Canadians continued to feel the effect of increasing prices in May as the consumer inflation rose 7.7% year over year. In today’s Consumer Price Index Announcement released by Stats Canada, this yearly increase was found to be the largest since January 1983 and up from April’s gain of 6.8%.
Grocery prices remained elevated in May as prices for food purchased from stores rose 9.7%, matching the gain in April. With price increases across nearly all food products, Canadians reported food as the area in which they were most affected by rising prices. Supply chain disruptions, as well as higher transportation and input costs, continued to put upward pressure on prices.
In May, shelter costs rose 7.4% year over year, matching the increase in April. Year over year, homeowners’ replacement cost rose to a lesser extent in May (+11.1%) compared with April (+13.0%), as prices for new homes showed signs of cooling.
For the full report from Stats Canada, click here.