Canada’s annual inflation rate held steady at 3.1 per cent in November, matching the previous month’s rate, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday.
Economists had forecast that the rate would fall below three percent, bringing the economy closer to the two percent target inflation rate set by the Bank of Canada.
Inflation is mostly caused by two factors: high rent and mortgage interest rates, which have increased by 7.4% and 29.8% from a year ago, respectively.
The increased cost of travel tours puts additional pressure on consumer expenses. This was offset by slower price increases for food, energy, and cell services.
While the price of groceries rose 4.7 per cent from a year ago, they did so at a slower pace compared to the previous year’s rates for the fifth consecutive month in a row — with a few exceptions, including meat, preserved vegetables and sugar, the agency reported.
The consumer price index was roughly 3.5% in November when volatile food and energy prices are subtracted from the core inflation rate.
Canadians continue to experience pressure when shopping at supermarkets. “Everything is still the same price,” Chloe Daley told CBC News while speaking to them outside a grocery store in Toronto. It’s still $2.99 for a cucumber when it used to be $0.99.”
“Even though they’re saying it’s slowly going down,. I don’t see a change in anything,” she said. “It’s very hard.”
