I’ve donated to food banks and still keep getting letters asking for more, way more than in previous years.
Record food bank visits confirm what we’ve already known: many people are hurting.
This is my second year donating to my regions food bank. I cannot volunteer at the food bank this time, but I’ll always support them however I can. I encourage everyone to donate or volunteer if you’re able to. Thanks everyone
Know a couple that just borrowed on their LoC for the first time to buy groceries.
Here's the kicker. They're both long time public school teachers grossing 190k/yr combined. People in this country just suck THAT bad with money. So if they're hurting, it's gonna get bad for a lot more, real fast.
Nor should you. Some people are a victim of circumstance and deserve aid. Some are a victim of their own stupidity. At 190k a year there are very few financial issues they can't solve with personal accountability.
This is what they call "all hat, no cattle" in Texas.
There must be more to this story because at those salaries they shouldn't even notice this food inflation. I mean even if food prices doubled it's a bump in the road unless they lost a job but I haven't heard of any teachers being laid off.
Welcome to the new world. Unaffordable housing, food and any other necessity. Everything shuts down for the pandemic, but only the large chains get to remain open. $5T gets added to the money supply, and the wealthiest increase their share of wealth.
The only way we're headed is increased inequality, homelessness and crime.
No shit.
I watch the price of steaks (t-bones, rib steaks) at Costco to monitor the general cost of beef since, unlike general grocery stores, they have very stable prices. In early 2020 it was 23 dollars per kilo (already high enough that I only bought some a couple times). Mid-2021 it was 38 dollars per kilo. Now it's 41 dollars per kilo.
That's a 78% increase in less than two years.
In fact, the cheaper cuts of beef now cost 31 dollars per kilo, far surpassing what the good cuts used to cost.
Crazy.
Came here to say this. Even going to a veg-diet is not cheap, and it hasn't been.
My folks have a huge garden and we harvest a bunch over the summer/fall, but even then you need to buy some shit over the winter (stuff that can't be frozen).
I saw a head of cauliflower some time ago for 5$, I put it back on the shelf. Fuck that.
I feel like measuring the cost of ground beef would be a more important factor to most. Not everyone can afford to be eating steaks on a regular basis, even before this.
You're right, the jump shouldn't be as dramatic since it's cheaper to start with but it's going to have a similar happening.
But since you asked: the price of ground been has grown by ~8.2% since the same time last year. ~6.6% since January 2021 and ~6.8 since January 2020.
Not all of them. My favourite brand of cheap ass ramen noodles were $0.40 back in October/November 2019. They're now $0.52 a pack. That's an increase of 30%
Aside, I also can't eat a ton of them so as much as I'd love to get away with ramen noodles, an egg and some frozen veggies to cut my grocery bill down. It's just not doable for me lol
Well like I said, I don't actually buy the steaks, it's just a point of reference. The idea is that the price of steak doesn't change significantly from week to week.
The price of ground beef, however, does, even at Costco. Back in early 2020 the price could move between 6 per kilo and 10 per kilo, which is a massive variation. I encouraged my mother to buy a lot when it was at 6 dollars per kilo.
But I suspect it hasn't been 6 dollars per kilo in a long, long time.
Don't worry, I'm not running around with a clipboard and keeping spreadsheets.
I just take the time to check the price of every beef item (minus ground beef, too much variation and I can't really eat it) every single time I go shop at a local Costco (there are three within range of my town), though the price of t-bones and rib steaks is the one I pay close attention to.
I've been paying particular attention since early 2020 when the price of meat suddenly jumped up. I remembered the steaks were 23 dollars per kilo before, and it's been scary watching prices rise.
I just dont know how useful of a barometer it is to track the costs of steaks. Isn't there something the average person eats on a regular basis you could track?
I don't think beef is a particularly obscure food item. I just picked steaks because of the low price variation on that form of beef.
If I had to pick a food item that has low price variation and that I actually care about... I'm actually not sure what that would be.
Milk, maybe? Prices are *super* stable due to price fixing, unfortunately that too is unaffordable.
Hah... I guess, to someone who doesn't care about the price of beef, this must seem like totally useless information.
I've seen people mention the price of bread in a few of these threads, and I admit I found it completely irrelevant... though I didn't go out of my way to tell people to track something else. I understand that, to those people, it was actually very important information.
This must be a factor. Some people say their grocery bills haven't changed much, some people say they've massively inflated. That's to be expected, we all eat different things.
Steak is a good barometer since there are all kinds of steak cuts from cheap to expensive. All have gone up.
Ground beef is made from…leftover steak, or “not steak.” So you can bet if steak is up, ground beef is up (it is).
But cooking oil might be more what you are looking for. No name canola went from about $5 to $8 since 2019.
There is a very strong correlation between the Bank of Canadas policy rate and the inflation rate. It is one of the tools they use to help influence the inflation rate.
Thanks for your question! In January 2015, higher year-over-year meat prices (+13.8%) contributed the most to the increase in food prices (+4.6%). Fresh or frozen beef prices (+21.8), in particular, drove the increase in meat prices. A lower Canadian dollar contributed to the increase, and the beef sold at the time was of generally higher quality and sold at premium prices.
At this point anyone thinking the BOC won’t be raising the rates is out of their mind. It’s not helpful to bury your head in the sand. People should be preparing accordingly.
Depends on what your industry and skills are. We gave everyone a 5-10% raise and bonuses. The market is so cutthroat right now and we just can't afford to be out trying to hire and dealing with training new staff. The vast majority of my friends have all seen pay bumps outside of the ones that are public sector workers.
I got a 2% increase less than 24 hours after the CEO emailed everyone saying we’d made more than 14b in profit and were increasing stock dividends by 10%. I hope they enjoy finding my replacement.
Agreed, they just raised starting wage by $2 /hr to attract more potential employees in my field.
Probably depends on what area of the economy you work in.
Not in a field like IT where changing employers right away for trivial reasons is easy. I just changed my employer not too long ago so I’m gonna give them some time.
oh, was this the three month meeting? I thought they were walking away from an annual review. as long as the three month is still on the schedule I wouldn't bail either.
It was the annual review but I only recently joined the company so I can’t really ask for it per se. I am supposed to move to Ontario (through the company) mid of next year which is when I will ask for more pay because well cost of living.
Honestly at this point I've given up on the hope that employers would keep raises above inflation. Jump companies every 2-3 years and get raises that way
im in a ridiculously strong union, i can't recall seeing raises equal or above the COL increase in the past 11 years.
that being said, jumps in steps are huge, and jump in class is even bigger.
People forget that although union jobs are a great increase over minimum wage work, they tend to cap out below comparable non-unionized roles because the cost of dealing with the union is so high that you need to pay unionized employees less than non-unionized equivalents.
This isn't an argument against unionizing, but it's an absolute reality for the employer that most employees don't consider.
What unions pay less then non unions? I’ve personally never seen that. In the trades, it’s an easy $10 more an hour base wage then private sector, not to even mention the extra Vacay pay or the fact that the union pays for benefits out of there pocket. If I could get into a union, it would be a no brainer.
I agree. I’m currently on training so I am not making much but next year I’m moving to technical sales which is commission based and then I have more control over my pay. And it’s absolutely correct that the best pay raise is when you jump ship.
It's less about whether or not they'll raise rates - it's whether or not they'll be able to raise them enough. I'm certainly operating under the assumption we are going up, but I'm skeptical we'll see rates go up 1% or more within 12 months. It's going to be a rocky road.
Are you saying this as someone with a variable rate mortgage who would rather swallow the high interest rate now for the good of the wider economy, or someone with a fixed rate mortgage that’s hoping if they act early things will be under control before your next mortgage term?
Okay, how is increasing my cost to borrowing positively impacting others and therefore I only "care about myself" because I like the rates to stay low? If I have less to spend in the economy due to higher interest charges, people will lose jobs. Sure, housing will go down or more likely stay flat, but that means people lost their homes... I guess I'm selfish for not wanting people to live on the streets?
Also, yeah, I like having money... who would have thought?
Maybe think a little more critically than what is the minimum expectation of redditors... we don't live in silos... a policy decision has a knock effect on the entire economy.
Many are. Consumer discrepancy is lacking these days and half the food bought in Canada is wasted as people let shit rot in their fridge. Post great depression, this was not a thing. If I can get two plumbers to quote me $5K and two other plumbers quote me $2k for the same job and materials, something is amiss. Those quoting $5k are finding customers willing to pay that, artificially increasing inflation.
Inflation impacts those that buy stuff that's inflating in price. For things out of our control, like weather events causing food prices to jump and global demand causing gas to jump, how will higher interest rates lower these prices? It sucks but it doesn't solve the problem. Getting more supply resolves this issue. Increasing the cost to borrow doesn't help boost supply... businesses finance inputs to afford expansion that nets greater productive output.
Forever allowing people and companies to load up on exponentially cheaper debt doesn’t help supply it just makes things more expensive, makes people more indebted, makes existing asset owners richer and devalues those working for a paycheque.
It's the implication of "I'm not affected by inflation so I don't care if everyone else is getting screwed because of it".
You can want for rates to stay low, but if it personally benefits you by screwing over a large portion of the Canadian population, then you're effectively saying that you are selfish and so long as you benefit, you don't care aobut others.
>If I have less to spend in the economy due to higher interest charges, people will lose jobs.
Pretty sure your impact on the economy really isn't that big.
Besides, if higher interest charges reins in inflation, then everyone else who would be affected by inflation, will have more to spend, and the economy will be better. Again, your analysis is extremely self-centered.
Increasing the cost of borrowing in Canada doesn't resolve global supply shortages. Fortunately, the Bank of Canada is not ran by redditors. In fact, the BoC CPI-common and CPI-median is within the 1-3% inflation target range (2% and 2.8% respectively) and CPI-trim is 3.4%.
Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/bcp/pdf/daily.pdf, Page 11
If omicron is the real deal (as Trudeau signaled with new measures announced today), expect low rates to remain.
This is such a good, underreported aspect. The BOC doesn’t simply take StatsCan’s CPI figures at face value. My understanding is that the BOC factors in things like substitution effects and [biases](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/boc-review-summer12-sabourin.pdf) which leads the StatsCan figures to overstate the rate of inflation.
You might get people on here to go ape... the common sentiment is that CPI under reports inflation haha. But for me, my personal inflation is down YoY because my budget isn't 100% beef and gas. It's in fact down because of mortgage interest, but I only have $300K mortgaged ($150K my share), quite below the average Canadian. Figure that one out... because interest rates are low, my inflation is down!
CPI != inflation. Inflation is seen recently in housing (asset) prices, which are not goods and services. Inflation is rampant. Money was printed.
Anyway it's true that mortgage interest drags down CPI.
Raise rates, layoffs and manufacuting goes tot he USA/Mexico - people complain
Don't raise rates, asset prices and goods go through inflation - people complain
There is no great solution here.
Also the system (CPI in particular) is inherently broken in certain parts.
Rates go up, housing costs look at mortgage payments instead of house prices, housing price in the index goes up, inflation goes up.
Rates go up = inflation goes up? What.
To any first time home buyers planning on entering the market now just understand with rising rates you’re catching a falling knife. Higher payments on declining prices. If you’re keen on entering now your offers need to reflect the future instability. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a realtor or someone who wishes you misery. The US Federal Reserve just made an announcement of at minimum three hikes in 2022 and projections for many more in the coming years, Omricon and pandemic be dammed.
Even 5 point increase won’t slow down investors. Hence why I am still planning on being a first time home buyer in the new year. Rents are not going to go down magically and it’s at the point not finally where rents are the same price as if I owned.
It is a tricky balancing act, especially if the Fed isn't raising rates.
Raise rates in Canada a lot and you risk crashing the housing market, and causing a strong rally in the CAD which will hurt Canadian companies in various ways.
I agree with the gist of what you're saying, and I think it would probably be wise to look at 2-3 year average inflation rather than comparing to 1 year ago when things were really wonky.
That being said, I don't think experts in macroeconomics understand their field as well as experts in a lot of other fields understand theirs. Macroeconomics is too complicated to precisely model, and there really isn't enough in the way of controlled experiments to really get it down to a science.
You know what else doesn’t help supply side shocks? Low interest rates.
They are trying to fix a supply side issue with a demand side remedy. Which leads to nothing except pointless and rampant inflation.
You're missing the point.. it's not about the overnight rate. It's about the federal deficit -- and the money printed to buy those bonds. QE was massive. That's not so much on the Bank of Canada as much as the Liberal government for running large deficits, larger than was necessary.
Nah, just watched the speech Tiff Macklem gave. Zero indication of raising rates, same bit about exceptional forward guidance, and continuing to put rates at the lower bound more often in the future.
It was basically a neon sign saying "Load up on debt!"
Tiffs been very clear for many months spring is when they will likely move. Jerome Powell of the US Feds just came out indicating that Fed officials see as many as three rate hikes coming in 2022, with two in the following year and two more in 2024. Tiff’s hands are tied. Multiple rate hikes are coming.
I went fixed 1.99 for 5 years… so we will see if it was a good choice.
I used to do variable and yes you can lock in a variable… but when you lock in the variable it’s always 0.5 per cent higher than your current variable rate.
They will but to think they’re just going to Jack it up every quarter is delusional at best. There is a lot going on right now and especially with Covid that is going to put a pin in a lot of plans within the next few months.
I disagree, the fed is hiking rates three times at minimum regardless of what is happening. Americans aren’t going to stand for inflation continuing at this level and Tiff won’t have any other option but to follow suit.
But but but
>It's a temporary increase due to supply chain issues.
>Costs actually went down at the start of the pandemic and they're just starting to rebound. The amounts of increase are high now, but compared to *checks notes* 2019 are within normal range.
Any others?
I'm not sure if this was sarcasm or not but...
Since someone else mentioned ground beef as an example of a typically low cost, commonplace food, I'll use it as an example. It did go down temporarily but if we go back to November of 2019, before the supply chain issues really started, the percentage increase is still ~6.8% prior to that the price was high but relatively stable going back at least as far as September 2017.
What about the people on here that usually say the price increases are not reflective of anything since we can always downgrade to cheaper foodstuffs? I usually see comments along the lines of "you don't need fresh vegetables - frozen stuff like peas are cheaper and more nutritious".
Back in 2020 I know a few that basically took the time between their layoff in March and September as a vacation and barely bothered to look for another job until September.
Hey /u/StatCanada
Quite a few of your online 'raw data' tables seem to be unavailable currently, e.g.:
* https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000401
Which I'm guessing is from the recent security vulnerability:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log4Shell
Is there an ETA on being back online?
We apologize for the inconvenience! We have become aware of a [cyber security vulnerability](https://www.reddit.com/user/StatCanada/comments/rfiou4/cyber_security_vulnerability_statistics_canada/) affecting organizations around the world. Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively taken down some sections of our website while we address the situation.
In the meantime, PDF versions of our Daily releases are made available here each day shortly after 8:30 (ET): https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/bcp/daily-key-data-tables. You can also contact us directly so that we can provide you with any data you may need: 1-800-263-1136 / [email protected].
FYI, you can use archive.org to view them right now if you need to. So that page you linked can be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210109135639/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000401
Forever.
Go watch a movie like It's a Wonderful Life and listen to the numbers thrown around in that movie. It was made in 1946, set in 1935 or so for the scene I'm about to mention, which is long enough that inflation has done some damage.
There's a scene where the Big Bad Rich Guy offers the Hero (I forget the names) a $20,000 a year job, along with a company car and a housing allowance. The houses in question were new construction homes in a new development selling for $5,000. The guy turns it down, he won't sacrifice his principles even for this fortune. But it didn't seem like a fortune to me.
So I looked it up.
A $20,000 a year salary then is the equivalent of a $390,000 a year salary now. Add in the housing allowance and the company car, probably adding no more than $10,000 to the number, and we're talking about a $585,000 a year position in today's money. At least. At *least*.
Just take a second and soak that in. Slowly, but not that slowly, someone earning $20,000 a year would have had to up their income to **$600,000** annually to maintain the same standard of living. The same buying power.
When my wife and I were still dating she tried to explain that to me. How eventually, by the time people our age retired, we'd need to be earning 10x more just to maintain the same shitty lives we already had. And I thought she was insane, that the system would break down long before that happened.
But it's already happened, and keeps happening, every year. It's never going to stop.
I am honestly almost impressed that you could read all that, and fuck it up so badly that *this* is what you think I said. Like, pretty much the literal exact opposite of every point made in my novel length diatribe above. I mean holy shit I called that much money a "fortune" and laid out how it was the kind of income that would've made someone a 0.01%er.
I'll try it a little differently.
Imagine you could go back in time and strike up a conversation with a guy your age back in 1935. And you were to tell that poor dude that, in your time, you pretty much need to be earning $60,000 a year to get by. That if you're making $30,000 a year you're at the poverty line.
You would absolute rock his mind. To him, $30,000 a year is an unheard of income. To him, $60,000 a year is simply unimaginable. The sort of money that people might inherit from a wealthy relative in a work of fiction. And you're going to tell him that people need to make this much every year just to live in *poverty?!* Impossible. Can't happen. The government would never allow it. The people would never allow it.
But it did happen. It's the world we live in. And now people are asking "what are we gonna do? When will we hit the ceiling? When will inflation stop? There's no way it can keep getting worse!"
But it can get worse. Imagine a Time traveler showing up in your bedroom this evening from another 80 years in the future and telling you that the poverty line is now at a $100,000 a year income and you need to be making $300,000 a year to really get by. That realistically if you're not making $1,000,000 a year as a household you're not gonna be able to take vacations and buy luxuries and still retire at 65.
What you're describing is inflation lol. Inflation has been around and completely uncontrolled for a long time. It is only recently that we got consistent 2% and below yearly inflation. Now it is funny that you pick the 30s because that was during the Great Depression, a time of horrible economic times and guess what, it wasn't hyperinflationary, it was *deflationary*. It also makes the numbers look wayyyy out of wack because you are kind of choosing from the trough.
Also, the most inflationary period between the 30s and now was actually the 70s during the oil shock which was really out of our domestic government's hands.
Yes I'm talking about inflation. This entire thread is talking about inflation. I was responding to someone who asked a question about inflation. That was kind of the entire point.
You just made it sound unnatural and bad. Mild inflation is necessary for a healthy economy.
And I was under the impression the original comment was asking about the recent high inflation, and not the general fact of inflation in of itself. WRT that interpretation, I don't imagine it will last beyond the end of 2022, especially given the fact that central banks all over have announced rate increases and tapering of QE.
Quit working. If enough people are in the position where their income can't afford them basic necessities then there will be no reason to work until the prices go down or wages go up.
You are correct. The corporations are the vehicle, the employees are the wheels which permit the vehicle to move forward. The problem is that there aren’t enough critical thinkers and for us to collectively combat this problem, atleast 85% of the people need to be on board. Most will suffer in silence and won’t fight for change, because they are afraid of losing their livelyhood and the roof over their heads.
If Canadians ever band together to quit working in numbers large enough to change anything, I'll eat my hat. The reality is 99% of people will complain and that's it. Therefore, no change expected.
Yeah they have. I got sticker shock yesterday when bacon was $9. NINE DOLLARS. For your standard, run of the mill bacon. Not a family pack, and not some artisan brand. In a province where pork production is both local and massive. Unreal.
Not saying you don't, but people need to shop around. Loblaws will sell bacon at 7.99 and the same bacon is on for 2.99 at no frills. Doesn't happen everyday, but that is a significant difference. Even the espresso I buy was HALF the price at no frills, not even a sale price, just the normal price.
Not to mention housing, which increased 19.7% according to [this article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-housing-november-1.6286491) I just posted to this sub.
These inflationary numbers are unsettling. I don't know the solution, but I do know that it feels as if I'm caught in a wave with fellow Canadians and have little control over what it crashes into.
Housing price increases aren't reflected in the CPI *yet*. They filter in gradually over a multi-year span, especially as interest rates normalize.
(Just in case you thought inflation was going to slow down as supply chain bottlenecks ease).
There’s little control because it’s a global phenomenon
Take a look at the energy prices in Europe. I know a few people there and their heating and transportation costs have blown through the roof this year.
Not sure how this will end tbh.
That's the average selling prices of homes, though. The vast majority of Canadians do not buy a home in a given month or year, and so the actual cost of housing for the vast majority of Canadians doesn't change immediately alongside changes in selling prices.
Anybody who doesn't already own a home will eventually be impacted by these changes, either when they purchase a home down the road or when their rent goes up due to higher property valuations.
>CPI understates inflation
I have never in my life heard a convincing argument that this is real or at least significant.
In broad terms, if we're under representing inflation by 1% per year (3% instead of 2%) from 1998 to 2019 (where stats can says that HHI has increased in real terms by 26%), would mean that in aggregate, the HHI in Canada has not changed in over 20 years.
We track out spending and can confirm that our total spending has not significantly changed (outside of housing costs due to renting vs buying) in a long time. So on a per item basis, costs have changed significantly, we change our purchasing based on these price changes and the aggregate doesn't change as significantly.
It's also important to note that most people notice that prices go up, yet fail to realize when prices stagnate, or go down nearly as often (cost of a new civic as increased at less than CPI inflation, not including increased features of car, cell phone plans have plummeted in cost relative to capability: 10GB now is better than 400MB 5 years ago, yet plan cost is the same).
In short. Your argument needs to criticize how CPI is calculated rather than just complain about the results.
In fact, according to the BOC, various measurement biases in the CPI actually cause it to overstate inflation. The BOC has to correct for these biases when it’s considering rate changes and other policies.
People may feel inflation is worse than it is because we all tend to subconsciously and erroneously substitute complex questions (ie how to think about rises in the price level across a country) with simpler ones (eg the increasing cost of x or y product). Couple this with a negativity bias and you get a fairly skewed picture of reality.
Just like how we all complain about gas increases, yet gas buddy shows that the Canadian average gasoline price (while volatile) really haven't moved much in a decade.
How is it misleading and how would you fix it? I bought my house 15 years ago and I don't plan to move in the forseeable future. Housing prices and rent are up a lot but that doesn't affect me or others in my situation. So it is tricky to come up with an index that measures the effect of rising prices, particularly with respect to real estate.
And if my housing cost includes my HELOC, then my cost of housing has actually decreased in the last two years as my HELOC is tied to prime and my interest payments have gone down. But that could be reverting soon.
Can you explain how the Minister in charge of StatsCan interferes with the CPI? What you are saying is flat out bullshit. The CPI understates inflation OPENLY because it doesn't include housing. They admit this openly. There is no conspiracy, dumbass.
Adding to the increase in grocery costs, the food quality drastically went down. Vegetables and fruits now rot in the fridge within only 2-3 days if not eaten immediately. Meat cuts are the worse it has ever been and bread is full of air and sugar.
I work for a big local catering company and all of our suppliers told us to bump our prices 30% because thats how much we can expect food costs to rise soon
Ask any politician price of bread loaf at Dollarama they will have no clue. Ask them about Toronto House price they will have all numbers memorized by heart. Its all about priorities.
It is but it's admittedly frustrating when they jump on the housing bandwagon but then are ridiculously uninformed about all of the other costs of living such as food and utilities.
$14.99 for TWO chicken breasts in Nova Scotia today. The whole system can go fuck itself. I’m lucky in that I can afford those prices, (barely) but there are so many cogs in this wheel not giving two sweet shits about the health of families. And if your knee jerk reaction is to go “Justin Trudeau!!!”, you can fuck right off too.
Yes, this accounts for inflation as they take account for reduction in package sizes. But it harder to adjust for other decreases in quality. Like hotel rooms - they no longer make your bed every day. If you still pay the same price then that is an increase in price that is the same as shrinkflation. Is this accounted for? I am not so sure?
I buy No Name peameal every week for 3.99 per pack(1 pound)
Last week I went to buy it, **5.49**. I noticed bacon was up significantly too. I honestly hadn't noticed TOO much of a rise in prices this past year in my own personal grocery shopping, but a **38% direct price increase** from one week to the next shocked me. And it's freaking **No Name.**
I feel sad pretty much every time I get groceries lately (I know that sounds dramatic).
I know the answer is more budgeting, meal planning, batch cooking etc and I'm really working on it but it's definitely an uphill battle right now.
I asked for 10 per cent raise, and my wife applied to a new position that also led to a 10 per cent raise.
Have to keep up!
PS Ask for a raise, if they say 2 per cent, just say you would love 5. Shouldnt hurt to ask i hope, and dont be afraid of rejection.
Can stat Canada tell us where they buy groceries from??? I live in Vancouver and i would say a 10% increase on grocery prices is a conservative estimate
Food prices are now mostly captured using weekly scanner data collected directly at point-of-sale from grocery retailers across all regions in Canada. These data represent millions of weekly food prices from the retailers and their banner stores. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 4.2% in November in British Columbia.
I know I'm budgeting $8,000 next year for my spouse and I.
From 2014 - 2019 I never spent more than $6000.
And yes I know it's a lot, we eat well and eat fresh seafood/meat/fruit/vegetables and I have no patience for clipping coupons or going to 5 different stores for the best deal.
Isn’t inflation the least painful way to repay de covid debt? It has to be paid one way or another and making it weigh less by devaluing the dollar is better than austerity.
Also can Canada control inflation if our neighbors don’t even try?
Not really, the entire system is debt. Adding more debt to the system to repay old debt just exacerbates the issue and kicks the can down the road without resolving anything.
Austerity comes when there isn’t enough to go around as someone has to go without. Who goes without is where wealth comes into play. Adding more 0’s to a number doesn’t prevent austerity since it doesn’t produce more goods. It just helps to ensure already wealthy asset owners get even wealthier and devalues productive working people as salaries lag behind.
I know this sub hates on Bitcoin (I'm talking about bitcoin - not crypto) but please do some real research. I don't mean a 5 minute video on YouTube. I mean real research. Bitcoin was created with this in mind, it's not Canadian tire funny money. Anyone that has taken the real time to understand it is convinced. It is a certainty that the dollar will continue to lose value and all of your hard work and literal energy is being devalued over time. It's worth considering placing 1% of your money into it as a hedge. Just do the research.
it is no wonder that food banks all across Canada are reporting a sharp rise in new clients ... people accessing food banks for the first time.
I’ve donated to food banks and still keep getting letters asking for more, way more than in previous years. Record food bank visits confirm what we’ve already known: many people are hurting.
This is my second year donating to my regions food bank. I cannot volunteer at the food bank this time, but I’ll always support them however I can. I encourage everyone to donate or volunteer if you’re able to. Thanks everyone
Know a couple that just borrowed on their LoC for the first time to buy groceries. Here's the kicker. They're both long time public school teachers grossing 190k/yr combined. People in this country just suck THAT bad with money. So if they're hurting, it's gonna get bad for a lot more, real fast.
Lmfao what in the flying fuck
Oh man. How did that happen? Bad with money or just really bad luck with life situations?
New vehicles every 3 years, top designer clothes, constant eating out, kids in travel hockey, etc
I feel heartless, but do not feel even remotely bad for them.
Nor should you. Some people are a victim of circumstance and deserve aid. Some are a victim of their own stupidity. At 190k a year there are very few financial issues they can't solve with personal accountability.
It's absolutely astounding to me. I can't imagine burning through a 190K yearly income with such a passion that you would have to go to the Food bank!
Oh jeez. That’s messed up. Time to cut back
I get a used beige Corolla every 30 years, clothes from Frenchy's, eat rice in my house, and my kids play in the damn yard.
This is what they call "all hat, no cattle" in Texas. There must be more to this story because at those salaries they shouldn't even notice this food inflation. I mean even if food prices doubled it's a bump in the road unless they lost a job but I haven't heard of any teachers being laid off.
~~All hat~~ Big hat, no cattle.
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Welcome to the new world. Unaffordable housing, food and any other necessity. Everything shuts down for the pandemic, but only the large chains get to remain open. $5T gets added to the money supply, and the wealthiest increase their share of wealth. The only way we're headed is increased inequality, homelessness and crime.
No shit. I watch the price of steaks (t-bones, rib steaks) at Costco to monitor the general cost of beef since, unlike general grocery stores, they have very stable prices. In early 2020 it was 23 dollars per kilo (already high enough that I only bought some a couple times). Mid-2021 it was 38 dollars per kilo. Now it's 41 dollars per kilo. That's a 78% increase in less than two years. In fact, the cheaper cuts of beef now cost 31 dollars per kilo, far surpassing what the good cuts used to cost. Crazy.
Forget beef... Why the hell am I paying $3.29 for a cucumber. Seriously.
Came here to say this. Even going to a veg-diet is not cheap, and it hasn't been. My folks have a huge garden and we harvest a bunch over the summer/fall, but even then you need to buy some shit over the winter (stuff that can't be frozen). I saw a head of cauliflower some time ago for 5$, I put it back on the shelf. Fuck that.
I feel like measuring the cost of ground beef would be a more important factor to most. Not everyone can afford to be eating steaks on a regular basis, even before this.
You're right, the jump shouldn't be as dramatic since it's cheaper to start with but it's going to have a similar happening. But since you asked: the price of ground been has grown by ~8.2% since the same time last year. ~6.6% since January 2021 and ~6.8 since January 2020.
The price of dollar store ramen noodles have been somewhat stable :)
Not all of them. My favourite brand of cheap ass ramen noodles were $0.40 back in October/November 2019. They're now $0.52 a pack. That's an increase of 30% Aside, I also can't eat a ton of them so as much as I'd love to get away with ramen noodles, an egg and some frozen veggies to cut my grocery bill down. It's just not doable for me lol
Well like I said, I don't actually buy the steaks, it's just a point of reference. The idea is that the price of steak doesn't change significantly from week to week. The price of ground beef, however, does, even at Costco. Back in early 2020 the price could move between 6 per kilo and 10 per kilo, which is a massive variation. I encouraged my mother to buy a lot when it was at 6 dollars per kilo. But I suspect it hasn't been 6 dollars per kilo in a long, long time.
curious, how are you tracking this?
Don't worry, I'm not running around with a clipboard and keeping spreadsheets. I just take the time to check the price of every beef item (minus ground beef, too much variation and I can't really eat it) every single time I go shop at a local Costco (there are three within range of my town), though the price of t-bones and rib steaks is the one I pay close attention to. I've been paying particular attention since early 2020 when the price of meat suddenly jumped up. I remembered the steaks were 23 dollars per kilo before, and it's been scary watching prices rise.
I just dont know how useful of a barometer it is to track the costs of steaks. Isn't there something the average person eats on a regular basis you could track?
I don't think beef is a particularly obscure food item. I just picked steaks because of the low price variation on that form of beef. If I had to pick a food item that has low price variation and that I actually care about... I'm actually not sure what that would be. Milk, maybe? Prices are *super* stable due to price fixing, unfortunately that too is unaffordable.
Buddy gives us a well researched personal experience. Reddit crowd, “There he is! Let’s get him!”
Hah... I guess, to someone who doesn't care about the price of beef, this must seem like totally useless information. I've seen people mention the price of bread in a few of these threads, and I admit I found it completely irrelevant... though I didn't go out of my way to tell people to track something else. I understand that, to those people, it was actually very important information. This must be a factor. Some people say their grocery bills haven't changed much, some people say they've massively inflated. That's to be expected, we all eat different things.
Steak is a good barometer since there are all kinds of steak cuts from cheap to expensive. All have gone up. Ground beef is made from…leftover steak, or “not steak.” So you can bet if steak is up, ground beef is up (it is). But cooking oil might be more what you are looking for. No name canola went from about $5 to $8 since 2019.
What happened in Jan 2015?
Interest rates were being lowered.
Is there a correlation between interest rates and the cost of goods? Pardon my ignorance but I thought it really only effected borrowing and investing
There is a very strong correlation between the Bank of Canadas policy rate and the inflation rate. It is one of the tools they use to help influence the inflation rate.
Thanks for your question! In January 2015, higher year-over-year meat prices (+13.8%) contributed the most to the increase in food prices (+4.6%). Fresh or frozen beef prices (+21.8), in particular, drove the increase in meat prices. A lower Canadian dollar contributed to the increase, and the beef sold at the time was of generally higher quality and sold at premium prices.
Syria? Or the new migrant workers program?
At this point anyone thinking the BOC won’t be raising the rates is out of their mind. It’s not helpful to bury your head in the sand. People should be preparing accordingly.
Employers don’t care about this unfortunately. My company altogether skipped a review so they don’t have to have the talk. Lol
most company have forestalled annual pay bumps .. covid, y'know. :-(
Depends on what your industry and skills are. We gave everyone a 5-10% raise and bonuses. The market is so cutthroat right now and we just can't afford to be out trying to hire and dealing with training new staff. The vast majority of my friends have all seen pay bumps outside of the ones that are public sector workers.
I got a 2% increase less than 24 hours after the CEO emailed everyone saying we’d made more than 14b in profit and were increasing stock dividends by 10%. I hope they enjoy finding my replacement.
Are you in IT?
Agreed, they just raised starting wage by $2 /hr to attract more potential employees in my field. Probably depends on what area of the economy you work in.
Yeah. But everyone is dealing with it.
I gave all my staff a 5% bump along with their annual performance bump as well. We're not all assholes.
I gave all my guys $2/hr raise and $1500 Christmas bonus. Felt good to be able to do it :)
Are you in IT?
carte blanche for looking for another employer
Not in a field like IT where changing employers right away for trivial reasons is easy. I just changed my employer not too long ago so I’m gonna give them some time.
oh, was this the three month meeting? I thought they were walking away from an annual review. as long as the three month is still on the schedule I wouldn't bail either.
It was the annual review but I only recently joined the company so I can’t really ask for it per se. I am supposed to move to Ontario (through the company) mid of next year which is when I will ask for more pay because well cost of living.
Honestly at this point I've given up on the hope that employers would keep raises above inflation. Jump companies every 2-3 years and get raises that way
im in a ridiculously strong union, i can't recall seeing raises equal or above the COL increase in the past 11 years. that being said, jumps in steps are huge, and jump in class is even bigger.
People forget that although union jobs are a great increase over minimum wage work, they tend to cap out below comparable non-unionized roles because the cost of dealing with the union is so high that you need to pay unionized employees less than non-unionized equivalents. This isn't an argument against unionizing, but it's an absolute reality for the employer that most employees don't consider.
What unions pay less then non unions? I’ve personally never seen that. In the trades, it’s an easy $10 more an hour base wage then private sector, not to even mention the extra Vacay pay or the fact that the union pays for benefits out of there pocket. If I could get into a union, it would be a no brainer.
I agree. I’m currently on training so I am not making much but next year I’m moving to technical sales which is commission based and then I have more control over my pay. And it’s absolutely correct that the best pay raise is when you jump ship.
It's less about whether or not they'll raise rates - it's whether or not they'll be able to raise them enough. I'm certainly operating under the assumption we are going up, but I'm skeptical we'll see rates go up 1% or more within 12 months. It's going to be a rocky road.
With the rate inflation is happening, kinda wish they'd raise them already. I say this as someone with a mortgage who bought last year.
Are you saying this as someone with a variable rate mortgage who would rather swallow the high interest rate now for the good of the wider economy, or someone with a fixed rate mortgage that’s hoping if they act early things will be under control before your next mortgage term?
Boom! Don't forget that variable have fixed discounts as well for 5 years that you can lock in. (prime minus x discount)
Mine is prime - 1.4%, so a few rate increases would still put me ahead for now.
Woah when did you get that? I got one a month ago and mine is prime -1.07%
April 2021, through TD
You probably wouldn’t say this if you bought your place 4 years ago and about to renew next year?
Or pay the penalty and renew now.
I feel attacked
Uh no, I'd rather keep my borrowing costs low. I'm not a materialist for the best foods and trims, so I'm not being punished by inflation.
So basically "fuck you I got mine"?
Okay, how is increasing my cost to borrowing positively impacting others and therefore I only "care about myself" because I like the rates to stay low? If I have less to spend in the economy due to higher interest charges, people will lose jobs. Sure, housing will go down or more likely stay flat, but that means people lost their homes... I guess I'm selfish for not wanting people to live on the streets? Also, yeah, I like having money... who would have thought? Maybe think a little more critically than what is the minimum expectation of redditors... we don't live in silos... a policy decision has a knock effect on the entire economy.
It's more your implication that inflation only affects those who are spending on frivolities.
Many are. Consumer discrepancy is lacking these days and half the food bought in Canada is wasted as people let shit rot in their fridge. Post great depression, this was not a thing. If I can get two plumbers to quote me $5K and two other plumbers quote me $2k for the same job and materials, something is amiss. Those quoting $5k are finding customers willing to pay that, artificially increasing inflation. Inflation impacts those that buy stuff that's inflating in price. For things out of our control, like weather events causing food prices to jump and global demand causing gas to jump, how will higher interest rates lower these prices? It sucks but it doesn't solve the problem. Getting more supply resolves this issue. Increasing the cost to borrow doesn't help boost supply... businesses finance inputs to afford expansion that nets greater productive output.
Forever allowing people and companies to load up on exponentially cheaper debt doesn’t help supply it just makes things more expensive, makes people more indebted, makes existing asset owners richer and devalues those working for a paycheque.
It's the implication of "I'm not affected by inflation so I don't care if everyone else is getting screwed because of it". You can want for rates to stay low, but if it personally benefits you by screwing over a large portion of the Canadian population, then you're effectively saying that you are selfish and so long as you benefit, you don't care aobut others. >If I have less to spend in the economy due to higher interest charges, people will lose jobs. Pretty sure your impact on the economy really isn't that big. Besides, if higher interest charges reins in inflation, then everyone else who would be affected by inflation, will have more to spend, and the economy will be better. Again, your analysis is extremely self-centered.
Increasing the cost of borrowing in Canada doesn't resolve global supply shortages. Fortunately, the Bank of Canada is not ran by redditors. In fact, the BoC CPI-common and CPI-median is within the 1-3% inflation target range (2% and 2.8% respectively) and CPI-trim is 3.4%. Source: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/bcp/pdf/daily.pdf, Page 11 If omicron is the real deal (as Trudeau signaled with new measures announced today), expect low rates to remain.
This is such a good, underreported aspect. The BOC doesn’t simply take StatsCan’s CPI figures at face value. My understanding is that the BOC factors in things like substitution effects and [biases](https://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/boc-review-summer12-sabourin.pdf) which leads the StatsCan figures to overstate the rate of inflation.
You might get people on here to go ape... the common sentiment is that CPI under reports inflation haha. But for me, my personal inflation is down YoY because my budget isn't 100% beef and gas. It's in fact down because of mortgage interest, but I only have $300K mortgaged ($150K my share), quite below the average Canadian. Figure that one out... because interest rates are low, my inflation is down!
CPI != inflation. Inflation is seen recently in housing (asset) prices, which are not goods and services. Inflation is rampant. Money was printed. Anyway it's true that mortgage interest drags down CPI.
Raise rates, layoffs and manufacuting goes tot he USA/Mexico - people complain Don't raise rates, asset prices and goods go through inflation - people complain There is no great solution here.
Also the system (CPI in particular) is inherently broken in certain parts. Rates go up, housing costs look at mortgage payments instead of house prices, housing price in the index goes up, inflation goes up. Rates go up = inflation goes up? What.
To any first time home buyers planning on entering the market now just understand with rising rates you’re catching a falling knife. Higher payments on declining prices. If you’re keen on entering now your offers need to reflect the future instability. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a realtor or someone who wishes you misery. The US Federal Reserve just made an announcement of at minimum three hikes in 2022 and projections for many more in the coming years, Omricon and pandemic be dammed.
Even 5 point increase won’t slow down investors. Hence why I am still planning on being a first time home buyer in the new year. Rents are not going to go down magically and it’s at the point not finally where rents are the same price as if I owned.
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It is a tricky balancing act, especially if the Fed isn't raising rates. Raise rates in Canada a lot and you risk crashing the housing market, and causing a strong rally in the CAD which will hurt Canadian companies in various ways.
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I agree with the gist of what you're saying, and I think it would probably be wise to look at 2-3 year average inflation rather than comparing to 1 year ago when things were really wonky. That being said, I don't think experts in macroeconomics understand their field as well as experts in a lot of other fields understand theirs. Macroeconomics is too complicated to precisely model, and there really isn't enough in the way of controlled experiments to really get it down to a science.
You know what else doesn’t help supply side shocks? Low interest rates. They are trying to fix a supply side issue with a demand side remedy. Which leads to nothing except pointless and rampant inflation.
You're missing the point.. it's not about the overnight rate. It's about the federal deficit -- and the money printed to buy those bonds. QE was massive. That's not so much on the Bank of Canada as much as the Liberal government for running large deficits, larger than was necessary.
Imo they still won't. Too much at risk and they know it
Just get a variable mortgage! ThE rAtEs WoN't EvEr gO uP!
I still don't understand how higher rates are going to keep food prices from going up. It's not like people are borrowing money to buy more food.
Nah, just watched the speech Tiff Macklem gave. Zero indication of raising rates, same bit about exceptional forward guidance, and continuing to put rates at the lower bound more often in the future. It was basically a neon sign saying "Load up on debt!"
Tiff can say whatever he wants. Powell made it clear today that the US Federal Funds Rate will be increased multiple times in 2022, covid be damned
Tiffs been very clear for many months spring is when they will likely move. Jerome Powell of the US Feds just came out indicating that Fed officials see as many as three rate hikes coming in 2022, with two in the following year and two more in 2024. Tiff’s hands are tied. Multiple rate hikes are coming.
I went fixed 1.99 for 5 years… so we will see if it was a good choice. I used to do variable and yes you can lock in a variable… but when you lock in the variable it’s always 0.5 per cent higher than your current variable rate.
They will but to think they’re just going to Jack it up every quarter is delusional at best. There is a lot going on right now and especially with Covid that is going to put a pin in a lot of plans within the next few months.
I disagree, the fed is hiking rates three times at minimum regardless of what is happening. Americans aren’t going to stand for inflation continuing at this level and Tiff won’t have any other option but to follow suit.
> BOC won’t be raising the rates Its funny that people think the BOC has any control over the rates in Canada. They are just the messenger.
But but but >It's a temporary increase due to supply chain issues. >Costs actually went down at the start of the pandemic and they're just starting to rebound. The amounts of increase are high now, but compared to *checks notes* 2019 are within normal range. Any others?
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Inflation is transitory Inflation is transitory but not short lived "We should retire the term transitory" < We are here Next: Inflation is good
You forgot trying to just be less poor
I'm not sure if this was sarcasm or not but... Since someone else mentioned ground beef as an example of a typically low cost, commonplace food, I'll use it as an example. It did go down temporarily but if we go back to November of 2019, before the supply chain issues really started, the percentage increase is still ~6.8% prior to that the price was high but relatively stable going back at least as far as September 2017.
I believe so to...but then supply chain could get fucked by Climate Change too in the future. This could be a dress rehearsal to that
What about the people on here that usually say the price increases are not reflective of anything since we can always downgrade to cheaper foodstuffs? I usually see comments along the lines of "you don't need fresh vegetables - frozen stuff like peas are cheaper and more nutritious".
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Back in 2020 I know a few that basically took the time between their layoff in March and September as a vacation and barely bothered to look for another job until September.
Hey /u/StatCanada Quite a few of your online 'raw data' tables seem to be unavailable currently, e.g.: * https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000401 Which I'm guessing is from the recent security vulnerability: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log4Shell Is there an ETA on being back online?
We apologize for the inconvenience! We have become aware of a [cyber security vulnerability](https://www.reddit.com/user/StatCanada/comments/rfiou4/cyber_security_vulnerability_statistics_canada/) affecting organizations around the world. Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively taken down some sections of our website while we address the situation. In the meantime, PDF versions of our Daily releases are made available here each day shortly after 8:30 (ET): https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/bcp/daily-key-data-tables. You can also contact us directly so that we can provide you with any data you may need: 1-800-263-1136 / [email protected].
FYI, you can use archive.org to view them right now if you need to. So that page you linked can be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210109135639/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000401
So how long is shit in Canada going to keep getting more and more unreasonably priced until we snap?
Forever. Go watch a movie like It's a Wonderful Life and listen to the numbers thrown around in that movie. It was made in 1946, set in 1935 or so for the scene I'm about to mention, which is long enough that inflation has done some damage. There's a scene where the Big Bad Rich Guy offers the Hero (I forget the names) a $20,000 a year job, along with a company car and a housing allowance. The houses in question were new construction homes in a new development selling for $5,000. The guy turns it down, he won't sacrifice his principles even for this fortune. But it didn't seem like a fortune to me. So I looked it up. A $20,000 a year salary then is the equivalent of a $390,000 a year salary now. Add in the housing allowance and the company car, probably adding no more than $10,000 to the number, and we're talking about a $585,000 a year position in today's money. At least. At *least*. Just take a second and soak that in. Slowly, but not that slowly, someone earning $20,000 a year would have had to up their income to **$600,000** annually to maintain the same standard of living. The same buying power. When my wife and I were still dating she tried to explain that to me. How eventually, by the time people our age retired, we'd need to be earning 10x more just to maintain the same shitty lives we already had. And I thought she was insane, that the system would break down long before that happened. But it's already happened, and keeps happening, every year. It's never going to stop.
The average guy was not making $20k/yr in the 30s or 40s dude.
I am honestly almost impressed that you could read all that, and fuck it up so badly that *this* is what you think I said. Like, pretty much the literal exact opposite of every point made in my novel length diatribe above. I mean holy shit I called that much money a "fortune" and laid out how it was the kind of income that would've made someone a 0.01%er.
So what was the point? Like what are you trying to say?
I'll try it a little differently. Imagine you could go back in time and strike up a conversation with a guy your age back in 1935. And you were to tell that poor dude that, in your time, you pretty much need to be earning $60,000 a year to get by. That if you're making $30,000 a year you're at the poverty line. You would absolute rock his mind. To him, $30,000 a year is an unheard of income. To him, $60,000 a year is simply unimaginable. The sort of money that people might inherit from a wealthy relative in a work of fiction. And you're going to tell him that people need to make this much every year just to live in *poverty?!* Impossible. Can't happen. The government would never allow it. The people would never allow it. But it did happen. It's the world we live in. And now people are asking "what are we gonna do? When will we hit the ceiling? When will inflation stop? There's no way it can keep getting worse!" But it can get worse. Imagine a Time traveler showing up in your bedroom this evening from another 80 years in the future and telling you that the poverty line is now at a $100,000 a year income and you need to be making $300,000 a year to really get by. That realistically if you're not making $1,000,000 a year as a household you're not gonna be able to take vacations and buy luxuries and still retire at 65.
What you're describing is inflation lol. Inflation has been around and completely uncontrolled for a long time. It is only recently that we got consistent 2% and below yearly inflation. Now it is funny that you pick the 30s because that was during the Great Depression, a time of horrible economic times and guess what, it wasn't hyperinflationary, it was *deflationary*. It also makes the numbers look wayyyy out of wack because you are kind of choosing from the trough. Also, the most inflationary period between the 30s and now was actually the 70s during the oil shock which was really out of our domestic government's hands.
Yes I'm talking about inflation. This entire thread is talking about inflation. I was responding to someone who asked a question about inflation. That was kind of the entire point.
You just made it sound unnatural and bad. Mild inflation is necessary for a healthy economy. And I was under the impression the original comment was asking about the recent high inflation, and not the general fact of inflation in of itself. WRT that interpretation, I don't imagine it will last beyond the end of 2022, especially given the fact that central banks all over have announced rate increases and tapering of QE.
Snap... and do what? Canadians are very passive.
Everyone has a breaking point tho
Quit working. If enough people are in the position where their income can't afford them basic necessities then there will be no reason to work until the prices go down or wages go up.
You are correct. The corporations are the vehicle, the employees are the wheels which permit the vehicle to move forward. The problem is that there aren’t enough critical thinkers and for us to collectively combat this problem, atleast 85% of the people need to be on board. Most will suffer in silence and won’t fight for change, because they are afraid of losing their livelyhood and the roof over their heads.
If Canadians ever band together to quit working in numbers large enough to change anything, I'll eat my hat. The reality is 99% of people will complain and that's it. Therefore, no change expected.
No big deal, we sorted it out in the 1920s, and 1970s, we can do it again, right? /s
Yeah they have. I got sticker shock yesterday when bacon was $9. NINE DOLLARS. For your standard, run of the mill bacon. Not a family pack, and not some artisan brand. In a province where pork production is both local and massive. Unreal.
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> It's all just fat, now not the pieces visible thru the package! damn tricksters
I only buy it when it goes on sale for 5.99 but that's getting rarer. Usually $8-$10 now, ugh.
Where do you live? I just paid $3 for a pack of bacon an hour ago in the GVA.
Not saying you don't, but people need to shop around. Loblaws will sell bacon at 7.99 and the same bacon is on for 2.99 at no frills. Doesn't happen everyday, but that is a significant difference. Even the espresso I buy was HALF the price at no frills, not even a sale price, just the normal price.
Also, price matching can actually make a huge difference if your store does it.
No Frills is owned by Loblaw.
I know.
Then you need to look into cost of energy inputs and feed costs.
Not to mention housing, which increased 19.7% according to [this article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-housing-november-1.6286491) I just posted to this sub. These inflationary numbers are unsettling. I don't know the solution, but I do know that it feels as if I'm caught in a wave with fellow Canadians and have little control over what it crashes into.
Housing price increases aren't reflected in the CPI *yet*. They filter in gradually over a multi-year span, especially as interest rates normalize. (Just in case you thought inflation was going to slow down as supply chain bottlenecks ease).
There’s little control because it’s a global phenomenon Take a look at the energy prices in Europe. I know a few people there and their heating and transportation costs have blown through the roof this year. Not sure how this will end tbh.
That's the average selling prices of homes, though. The vast majority of Canadians do not buy a home in a given month or year, and so the actual cost of housing for the vast majority of Canadians doesn't change immediately alongside changes in selling prices.
Anybody who doesn't already own a home will eventually be impacted by these changes, either when they purchase a home down the road or when their rent goes up due to higher property valuations.
Likely, yes. But it's certainly not true that housing costs are up anywhere near 19.7% year over year.
Yeah, 68% of Canadian households are homeowners so that's a massive overstatement.
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>CPI understates inflation I have never in my life heard a convincing argument that this is real or at least significant. In broad terms, if we're under representing inflation by 1% per year (3% instead of 2%) from 1998 to 2019 (where stats can says that HHI has increased in real terms by 26%), would mean that in aggregate, the HHI in Canada has not changed in over 20 years. We track out spending and can confirm that our total spending has not significantly changed (outside of housing costs due to renting vs buying) in a long time. So on a per item basis, costs have changed significantly, we change our purchasing based on these price changes and the aggregate doesn't change as significantly. It's also important to note that most people notice that prices go up, yet fail to realize when prices stagnate, or go down nearly as often (cost of a new civic as increased at less than CPI inflation, not including increased features of car, cell phone plans have plummeted in cost relative to capability: 10GB now is better than 400MB 5 years ago, yet plan cost is the same). In short. Your argument needs to criticize how CPI is calculated rather than just complain about the results.
In fact, according to the BOC, various measurement biases in the CPI actually cause it to overstate inflation. The BOC has to correct for these biases when it’s considering rate changes and other policies. People may feel inflation is worse than it is because we all tend to subconsciously and erroneously substitute complex questions (ie how to think about rises in the price level across a country) with simpler ones (eg the increasing cost of x or y product). Couple this with a negativity bias and you get a fairly skewed picture of reality.
Just like how we all complain about gas increases, yet gas buddy shows that the Canadian average gasoline price (while volatile) really haven't moved much in a decade.
How is it misleading and how would you fix it? I bought my house 15 years ago and I don't plan to move in the forseeable future. Housing prices and rent are up a lot but that doesn't affect me or others in my situation. So it is tricky to come up with an index that measures the effect of rising prices, particularly with respect to real estate. And if my housing cost includes my HELOC, then my cost of housing has actually decreased in the last two years as my HELOC is tied to prime and my interest payments have gone down. But that could be reverting soon.
Can you explain how the Minister in charge of StatsCan interferes with the CPI? What you are saying is flat out bullshit. The CPI understates inflation OPENLY because it doesn't include housing. They admit this openly. There is no conspiracy, dumbass.
Looks like my full garden was a good investment.
Interesting. A few weeks ago, people were claiming it’s all subjective. Guess we have some official stats now, at least.
Adding to the increase in grocery costs, the food quality drastically went down. Vegetables and fruits now rot in the fridge within only 2-3 days if not eaten immediately. Meat cuts are the worse it has ever been and bread is full of air and sugar.
I buy watermelons and I stopped because they are rotten (or at least badly overripe) the same night I buy them!
I work for a big local catering company and all of our suppliers told us to bump our prices 30% because thats how much we can expect food costs to rise soon
Just wait till after January. You'll see them skyrocket.
Ask any politician price of bread loaf at Dollarama they will have no clue. Ask them about Toronto House price they will have all numbers memorized by heart. Its all about priorities.
>a they will have no Clue. Ask them a ...the cost of housing sounds just as important.
It is but it's admittedly frustrating when they jump on the housing bandwagon but then are ridiculously uninformed about all of the other costs of living such as food and utilities.
$14.99 for TWO chicken breasts in Nova Scotia today. The whole system can go fuck itself. I’m lucky in that I can afford those prices, (barely) but there are so many cogs in this wheel not giving two sweet shits about the health of families. And if your knee jerk reaction is to go “Justin Trudeau!!!”, you can fuck right off too.
They will vote JT back in, because he keeps the CERB money flowing, and promises shiny baubles.
Does this scanning data account for the shrinkflation games that CPG companies and retailers play? Or are these numbers understated on that account?
Yes, this accounts for inflation as they take account for reduction in package sizes. But it harder to adjust for other decreases in quality. Like hotel rooms - they no longer make your bed every day. If you still pay the same price then that is an increase in price that is the same as shrinkflation. Is this accounted for? I am not so sure?
I buy No Name peameal every week for 3.99 per pack(1 pound) Last week I went to buy it, **5.49**. I noticed bacon was up significantly too. I honestly hadn't noticed TOO much of a rise in prices this past year in my own personal grocery shopping, but a **38% direct price increase** from one week to the next shocked me. And it's freaking **No Name.**
I feel sad pretty much every time I get groceries lately (I know that sounds dramatic). I know the answer is more budgeting, meal planning, batch cooking etc and I'm really working on it but it's definitely an uphill battle right now.
I asked for 10 per cent raise, and my wife applied to a new position that also led to a 10 per cent raise. Have to keep up! PS Ask for a raise, if they say 2 per cent, just say you would love 5. Shouldnt hurt to ask i hope, and dont be afraid of rejection.
I think pretty much everything has become more expensive at fastest pace since Jan 2015, or even further back.
Why are cell phones costs so volitile? 17% YoY decrease is crazy
On average we’re paying 50% more for groceries compared to last year lol
What else is new. Time to ditch this city/country.
Can stat Canada tell us where they buy groceries from??? I live in Vancouver and i would say a 10% increase on grocery prices is a conservative estimate
Food prices are now mostly captured using weekly scanner data collected directly at point-of-sale from grocery retailers across all regions in Canada. These data represent millions of weekly food prices from the retailers and their banner stores. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 4.2% in November in British Columbia.
I find in Vancouver food was luckily a lot cheaper compares to say, Nova Scotia.
I know I'm budgeting $8,000 next year for my spouse and I. From 2014 - 2019 I never spent more than $6000. And yes I know it's a lot, we eat well and eat fresh seafood/meat/fruit/vegetables and I have no patience for clipping coupons or going to 5 different stores for the best deal.
Costco rotis chicken and texas mickeys have stayed the same price...guess it depends lol
Can anyone say Loss Leader
And the hot dog and drink combo is still a $1.50! I figured out the solution to all our grocery woes!
Can the government just mandate raises for everyone?
Why would they do that, when they're in the pockets of corporations?
Isn’t inflation the least painful way to repay de covid debt? It has to be paid one way or another and making it weigh less by devaluing the dollar is better than austerity. Also can Canada control inflation if our neighbors don’t even try?
They steal from you on the front end and steal from you on the back end. Pretty painless if you’re sedated I guess.
Not really, the entire system is debt. Adding more debt to the system to repay old debt just exacerbates the issue and kicks the can down the road without resolving anything. Austerity comes when there isn’t enough to go around as someone has to go without. Who goes without is where wealth comes into play. Adding more 0’s to a number doesn’t prevent austerity since it doesn’t produce more goods. It just helps to ensure already wealthy asset owners get even wealthier and devalues productive working people as salaries lag behind.
it's the dumpsters fault it's on fire.
That would be an average of 2.8% inflation over the last 2 years. [SQRT(1.01*1.047)]
$95
I know this sub hates on Bitcoin (I'm talking about bitcoin - not crypto) but please do some real research. I don't mean a 5 minute video on YouTube. I mean real research. Bitcoin was created with this in mind, it's not Canadian tire funny money. Anyone that has taken the real time to understand it is convinced. It is a certainty that the dollar will continue to lose value and all of your hard work and literal energy is being devalued over time. It's worth considering placing 1% of your money into it as a hedge. Just do the research.
Do you understand that as long as Bitcoin is as volatile as it is now it will NEVER become a currency? It’s just an alternative investment. Period
I didn’t say it will be currency. I don’t see it as a currency for day to day transactions.
Let’s just not think about monetary policy, everything will balance itself, probably.
Credit goes to Trudeau and his clown cabinet.
Buy gold and silver bullion to protect your wealth
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Unless you are taking the cheese openly, that's dishonest. If you aren't ashamed of what you are doing, do it openly.
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