On this page you will find the live palladium spot price in Canadian dollars, an interactive CAD price chart, year by year price history, why palladium is the one precious metal that attracts GST and HST in Canada, and an honest look at where the demand actually comes from.

Palladium Price Chart in Canadian Dollars

Pick a period below. Set it to five years and you will see something you will not find on the gold or silver pages: a precious metal that is worth considerably less today than it was half a decade ago.

Source: LBMA Palladium Price converted at Bank of Canada daily rates. The CAD series begins in January 2017, when the Bank of Canada current daily USD/CAD series starts.

Palladium Price History in Canada by Year

Annual palladium prices in Canadian dollars per troy ounce. The shape here is a mountain, not a staircase.

• Palladium is up roughly 25% over twelve months but down about 42% over five years. Every other metal on this site is sharply higher over that window.
• The all time high of $3,860 came in March 2022. Today around $1,928, palladium sits 50% below that peak, four years on.
• The 2024 average of $1,347 was the trough. Anyone who bought the 2021 or 2022 top is still deeply underwater.

The One Precious Metal That Lost Money

I have written about this market for over twenty years and palladium is the clearest lesson I can point to about why a metal being precious does not make it a store of value. Between 2016 and 2022 it went up roughly fourfold and briefly became the most expensive of the four major precious metals, worth more per ounce than gold. Then the reason for the rally disappeared.

The reversal matters because it was the mechanism of the decline, not just a symptom. Palladium became so expensive relative to platinum that automakers redesigned catalytic converters to use platinum instead. That substitution is largely permanent. Engineering decisions made in 2021 and 2022 are still working through vehicle production today. For the other side of that trade, see our live platinum spot price page.

What Drives the Palladium Price

Palladium is the least diversified of the four precious metals by demand, and that is the whole risk profile in one sentence.

• Gasoline autocatalysts: roughly 80% of demand. Not a third, not half. Four fifths of the world's palladium goes into the exhaust systems of petrol vehicles. Nothing else comes close.
• Russian supply. Norilsk Nickel alone accounts for something close to 40% of global mined palladium. Sanctions risk, logistics and export policy all feed directly into price.
• Substitution. Automakers can and did switch to platinum. This is the structural headwind that separates palladium from every other precious metal.
• Vehicle electrification. A battery electric vehicle has no catalytic converter and therefore needs no palladium at all. Every percentage point of EV market share is a permanent reduction in the addressable market.
• Recycling. Scrapped catalytic converters return a meaningful share of supply each year, and that flow rises when prices are high, capping rallies.

None of this makes palladium uninvestable, but it does make it a bet on internal combustion engines rather than a hedge against currency debasement. Those are opposite kinds of position. Johnson Matthey's PGM market reports are the standard reference for supply and demand balances, the LBMA sets the daily benchmark, and the Bank of Canada rate converts it into the figure at the top of this page.

The Tax Trap: Palladium Is Not GST Exempt

This is the single most important practical fact on this page, and most Canadian buyers do not know it until the invoice arrives.

Think about what that does to your break even. An Ontario buyer paying 13% needs palladium to rise 13% before they are level, on top of the dealer premium. That is a serious hurdle on a metal with palladium's track record. Rates shown are current at the time of writing and are general information rather than tax advice, so confirm with your accountant.

Palladium and Your RRSP

Physical palladium is not a qualified investment for an RRSP, TFSA, RRIF or any other registered plan. The Income Tax Regulations name gold and silver bullion only. No purity level and no refiner changes that.

If you want palladium exposure inside a registered account it has to be a security: a PGM exchange traded fund or a producer equity, held in a self directed plan. We set out the alternatives in including other precious metals in your RRSP. For the accounts themselves, our guide to RRSPs and the self directed TFSA guide cover the setup. Dealers who quote palladium reliably are a short list, and both Kitco and Dillon Gage handle the metal. If this page has convinced you to look elsewhere, why investors hold gold makes the case for the more conventional choice.

Palladium Price Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

More Questions About Buying Palladium in Canada