bob

    function convertCurrency($amount,$from_currency,$to_currency){

      $from_Currency = urlencode($from_currency);
      $to_Currency = urlencode($to_currency);
      $query =  "{$from_Currency}_{$to_Currency}";

      $json = file_get_contents("https://free.currencyconverterapi.com/api/v5/convert?q={$query}&compact=ultra");
      $obj = json_decode($json, true);

      $val = floatval($obj["$query"]);

      $total = $val * $amount;
      return number_format($total, 2, '.', '');
    }

    //uncomment to test
    echo convertCurrency(1, 'USD', 'CAD');