Groceries, gas, and other important items aren’t getting any cheaper as the holidays approach.
Today, Statistics Canada revealed that inflation in the country continues to rise at rates not seen in almost two decades.
Last month, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 4.7 percent, on a year-over-year basis. That matches the 4.7 percent increase from October, which was the highest the index had shot up in 18 years.
Statistics Canada uses the CPI to track the cost of basic necessities like food, gas, and heating.
Statistics Canada says rising inflation is tied to ongoing supply chain disruptions, which are making “durable goods” like vehicles and furniture more expensive.
That was made even worse toward the end of last month when flooding in British Columbia and the spread of Omicron “created new uncertainties around further potential disruptions to supply chains and oil demand.”
Statistics Canada uses eight main categories to track the CIP. It says prices rose in every single on of them in November.
Among the worst price increases were gas (up a whopping 43 percent), furniture (up nearly nine percent) and food (which was 4.4 percent more expensive).
StatsCan points out that inflation has gone up much faster than average wages in the country in 2021.
The 4.7 percent, year-over-year increase in inflation in November is more than double the 2.8 percent average wage increase in the country.
“On average, prices rose faster than wages, and Canadians experienced a decline in purchasing power,” StatsCan said.
Inflation is also rising faster in Maritime provinces than it is in the rest of Canada.
StatsCan says the year-over-year CPI rose 5.3 percent in Nova Scotia in November, and 5.7 percent in New Brunswick.
P.E.I., meanwhile, saw its CPI shoot up by 7 percent last month.
StatsCan said the higher-than-average inflation in the Maritimes is mostly due to higher heating costs.
In Ontario, inflation is rising slightly faster than the rest of the country. The CPI pegs year-over-year inflation in the province at 5 percent last month.
