Consumer inflation rises to 7.7% year, largest in 40 years

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pushes government to take real, concrete action

Canadians continued to feel the impact of rising prices as consumer inflation rose 7.7% year over year according to statistics releases by Statistics Canada. This was the largest yearly increase since January 1983 and up from a 6.8% in April.

Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pushed the Liberal government to take real, concrete action to help Canadian families who are falling further and further behind while huge corporations make record profits. Singh is pushing for an additional $500 to $1,000 in families’ pockets.

The acceleration in May was largely due to higher prices for gasoline, which rose 12.0% compared with April 2022 (-0.7%). Higher prices for services, such as hotels and restaurants, also contributed to the increase. Food prices and shelter costs remained elevated in May as price growth was unchanged on a year-over-year basis.

Energy prices rose 34.8% on a year-over-year basis in May, driven primarily by the largest one-month price increase since January 2003. Compared with May 2021, consumers paid 48.0% more for gasoline in May, stemming from high crude oil prices, which also resulted in higher prices for fuel oil and other fuels (+95.1%).

Grocery prices remained elevated in May as prices for food purchased from stores rose 9.7%, matching the gain in April. With price increases across nearly all food products, Canadians reported food as the area in which they were most affected by rising prices. Supply chain disruptions, as well as higher transportation and input costs, continued to put upward pressure on prices.

Edible fats and oils (+30.0%) recorded its largest increase on record, mainly driven by higher prices for cooking oils.

New Democrats say this profit-driven inflation is making it impossible for hardworking people to afford the things they need like food, gas, and housing.

“Workers aren’t causing inflation and they shouldn’t have to pay for it,” said Singh. “The NDP has been calling on the government to put an excess profit tax on these oil and gas companies and redistribute that money to hardworking people through the GST tax credit and the Canada Child Benefit. New Democrats want to get up to $1,000 back in your pocket to help you and your family now.”