Cost of living putting pressure on families despite slight decline in inflation rate
Despite some relief at the pumps last month, the high cost of living continues to squeeze Canadians’ pocketbooks.
Canadian inflation declined to 7.6 per cent year-over-year in July, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada released Tuesday.
But the cost of food continues to rise. Prices were up 9.9 per cent compared with a year ago, the fastest pace since August 1981.
Johnny Paolozzi runs Subito Sandwich on Gladstone Avenue in downtown Ottawa. He says it is hard to keep up with the high price of food.
“Everything! everything in general. No matter what we touch, and the supply chain too! When I get an invoice now… I look- did I get the product and how much did it go up? It’s scary,” says Paolozzi.
Paolozzi says he has noticed all items are going up. “You will pick something up one day, and two days later it will be increased by 20 dollars! It hard to price your sandwiches because you feel for your customers.”
He says he has had to raise his prices by nearly $2 since the start of the pandemic. But the increase does not cover all the higher costs of items. “Mayonnaise was at one time 30 to 40 bucks, but I went to buy some the other day and it was $75.”
“We are staying alive … but it’s a lot of hard work,” says Paolozzi.
The slight decline in inflation in July comes after a nearly 40 year high of 8.1 percent in June. The decline was largely driven by a decline in gas prices.
Vivek Dehejia is an economics professor at Carleton University; on the lower inflation in July he says, “It is good news, but I wouldn’t say that it is brilliant, exciting news to shout from the rooftop, it is still 7.6 per cent.
“Prices are still going up very fast and we still have a big problem to deal with. You have to reverse the prices from going up, in other words get inflation back down to 2 per cent, where it is supposed to be, and we are very far away from that.”
Dehejia says it is still too early to see if inflation has peaked and rates will continue to decrease.
“I would like to think that it has peaked at 8.1, but it is still possible that we could have some month-to-month spikes so for example, if the war in Ukraine takes a nasty turn, and there is a crunch in oil and gas prices, it could spike above eight per cent again.”
The Bank of Canada is expected to raise interest rates again in September. Dehejia says, “I think the lesson here for the Bank of Canada, is to not be complacent, we aren’t out of the woods yet.”
--With files from the Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.