Cost of gas and groceries on the rise, putting families in a pinch
Record high gas prices don't appear to be going away anytime soon, making it tougher for the average household to make ends meet.
Driving a car these days is rough on the wallet, and people filling up their gas tanks Monday agree.
“Gas prices? They’re phenomenal,” says one driver.
“This is crazy. We can’t take this,” says another.
It is especially tough if your job is to drive.
One Uber driver who spoke to CTV News says he used to make about $150 per day, but now it's closer to $100 after he fills up.
“Twenty kilometres of driving, I used to spend two to three dollars of gas, now I probably spend about five or six dollars. So that makes a difference.”
But even with gas prices at an all time high, gas expert Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says it hasn't even hit its peak yet.
“Unfortunately, it’s going to be several months of extraordinary pain on a scale at which Canadians have never experienced, at least in a lifetime,” says McTeague.
He also says when gas goes up, so does everything else.
“It doesn’t just deal with our convenience of transportation,” says McTeague. “It really puts a crimp on the availability of every product we consume.”
Including groceries.
Racheal Power says she used to spend about $300 a week on groceries.
“Now I’m looking at close to $600 a week,” she says. “I work two jobs myself and I’m married and my husband also works two jobs. We need to work two jobs just to support ourselves.”
Food prices have skyrocketed in the last year.
Some shoppers are finding themselves spending anywhere from 30 per cent more to double their usual bill, depending what they’re buying.
“Groceries that I would get at $100 are now coming to probably $125, $130 at minimum,” says shopper Prateek Kapoor.
Shopper Christine Saikaley adds, “It’s getting a little more difficult and spending double for half the amount of stuff that I get is kind of discouraging.”
With food and fuel costing more than ever, some drivers are already thinking it is time to move away from gas-powered vehicles.
Gas is expected to rise another two cents on Wednesday and again on April 1 when the carbon tax adds another 2.5 cents per litre to the cost.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Second Australian teen dies in tainted alcohol case in Laos that has killed 6 tourists
A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six.
Canoeist is paddling the 9,650-kilometre Great Loop out of gratitude for life
Peter Frank has paddled from Michigan's Upper Peninsula in June to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland this month in his 1982 Sawyer Loon decked canoe, but he’s still got a long way to go.
No evidence linking Modi to criminal activity in Canada: national security adviser
A senior official says the Canadian government is not aware of any evidence linking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to alleged criminal activity perpetrated by Indian agents on Canadian soil.
'Not good for the economy': MPs call on federal government to regulate resale concert tickets
Ticket fraud and sky-high prices for Taylor Swift concerts have some politicians calling for changes to the way tickets are sold in Canada.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
opinion Trump's cabinet picks: Useful pawns meant to be sacrificed to achieve his endgame
In his column for CTVNews.ca, Washington political analyst Eric Ham argues U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's controversial cabinet nominees are useful pawns meant to be sacrificed for a more bountiful reward down the line.