The interior of a grocery store in Montreal, Quebec.
Inflation is still going up in Canada, though the rate of increase is not as bad as it was last year — not that that's much comfort to Canadians watching prices mount.
Statistics Canada has released its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, showing a 5.2% overall price jump between February 2022 and February 2023 and a 0.4% increase since January. That's compared to a 12-month (year-over-year) change of 5.9% and a monthly change of 0.5% in the last monthly report.
But StatsCan warns that while it might appear as if the situation has greatly improved since the 8.1% year-over-year CPI change in June 2022, that's only because record-high inflation last year makes the more recent increases look good by comparison. Prices, the federal agency states, "remain elevated."
Especially those for groceries. Statistics Canada noted a whopping 10.6% 12-month increase in food prices in February 2023, due, it says, to "supply constraints amid unfavourable weather in growing regions" and higher prices for animal feed, energy and packing materials.
A bar graph showing the rate of price increases for 16 grocery products between February 2022 and February 2023.Statistics Canada
With 12-month changes of 15.7%, 14.8%, 7.4% and 6%, respectively, juices, cereal products, seafood, and confectionary items led grocery basket cost jumps, according to the report.
Vegetables (up 13.9% between February 2022 and February 2023), bakery products (also up 13.9%), non-alcoholic beverages (11.1%), dairy (9.1%) and meat (6.2%) also increased in price, though "to a lesser extent" than in January, StatsCan notes.
Energy prices, by contrast, decreased by 0.6% in the last year, driven by a 1% one-month drop and a 4.7% 12-month drop in the price of gas, "the first yearly decline," the report states, "since January 2021."
Housing price increases are also on a downward trajectory, up 6.1% between February 2022 and February 2023 compared to a 6.6% jump between January 2022 and January 2023.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
