It wasn’t the cost of gas that drove inflation last month; it was the price of the food you bought at the grocery store.
Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index for August said food prices jumped 10.8 per cent from a year ago, the fastest pace for food since August 1981.
Consumers paid more for almost everything at the grocery store. Consumers paid 13.2 per cent more for fresh fruit, 15.4 per cent more for bakery products, and 17.2 per cent more for condiments, vinegar, and spices.
Excluding gas, August’s inflationary rate was 6.3 per cent, down 0.3 percentage points from July’s 6.6 per cent rate.
“Today’s CPI numbers showing prices for food rose at the fastest pace in 40 years prove life is getting harder for Canadians trying to make ends meet,” said Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre. “After two years of warnings by the Conservatives, the Trudeau government still doesn’t have a plan to fix inflation.”
Including the price at the pumps, inflation was 7 per cent. A drop of 0.6 percentage points from July came as gas prices, durable goods, and travel and accommodation costs fell.
Drivers still felt the pinch at gas stations across Canada. They paid 22.1 per cent more for gas in August than they did a year ago, but that was down 9.6 per cent from prices in July, when prices tumbled 9.2 per cent from June.
The report said gas prices were still 22.1 per cent higher than in August 2021 but credited a ramp-up in global oil production for a 9.6 per cent drop following a 9.2 per cent drop in July.
For Canadians, a 7 per cent increase in inflation still outpaced a 5.4 per cent jump in the average hourly wage as families continued to feel the squeeze.
Compared to other G7 nations, Canada’s inflation rate is still in the middle of the pack. The highest rate again was in the United Kingdom at 9.9 per cent. It was 8.4 and 8.3 per cent in Italy and the U.S, and 7.9 in Germany. In France, it was 5.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent in Japan.
