canada inflation

Everything is more expensive in Canada and here's what experts say will happen next

Anyone who has tried to buy a home in Toronto or filled up with a tank of gas, knows how much prices have gone up recently.

Home prices have shot up to unattainable levels with Toronto less affordable than New York or Los Angles. Gas prices are hitting record levels, and a trip to the grocery store is costing more than ever.

Recent data shows Canada's annual inflation rate hit an 18-year-high, up 4.4 per cent, the fastest annual pace since February of 2003.

Topping the list across Canada are gas prices — rising 32.8 per cent compared with September last year, according to Statistics Canada. Ontario saw a 34.5 per cent increase in gas prices.

Food prices rose 3.7 per cent year over year in September in Ontario.

The homeowners' replacement cost index, which is related to the price of new homes, continued to increase slightly year over year, rising 14.1 per cent in Ontario. Relative to September 2020, price growth continued to trend upward amid higher construction costs and historically low interest rates across Canada.

Inflation increases are happening around the world and experts say it is because Global supply chain bottlenecks linked to lockdowns are not easing as quickly as expected, and that it will take a little longer for inflation rates to decrease.

"What this all means, in all our countries, is that inflation — measures of inflation — are probably going to take a little longer to come back down," said Tiff Macklem, the governor of the Bank of Canada, last week.

Lead photo by

Jeremy Gilbert


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