Canada's Inflation Rate Is at A 30-Year High & Here's What That Means For Your Wallet

In February 2022, Canada's inflation rate rose to the highest it's been since August 1991. And, with a higher inflation rate comes a higher cost for everything, but especially essentials like food, housing and gasoline.

According to Statistics Canada, the inflation rate in February was 5.7%. This bump up makes it the highest interest of the last 30 years. Well, since January 2022, which had the previously record-breaking rate of 5.1%.

Over the past month or two, there's a good chance you've felt that sting of inflation in your wallet and unfortunately you might continue to feel that pinch.

The climb means that the price of groceries is increasing, and fast. In January, the price of groceries had jumped by 6.5% since the same time the previous year. However, in February, that annually measured rate rose to a whopping 7.4%.

This rise was seen in essentials like dairy, eggs and meat, with the former two seeing a jump of 6.9% combined and the later one going up by 11.7%.

Housing also was affected by the increase. Last month, the cost of shelter bumped by 6.6%, which is at the fastest pace since August 1983. This applied to both owned housing, which saw a 6.2% jump, and rented housing, which increased in cost by 4.2%.

Sorry Canada, that's not all. As lots of people are probably aware, the price of gas is going up and up too. In February alone, gas was costing drivers 32.3% more than it did in February of 2021. An increase which is likely a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has created instability and uncertainty in the global oil supply, thus driving prices up.

Another industry that was affected is, interestingly enough, the household appliances sector. Costs went up by 7.7%, with the biggest increase, 15.6%, being for items like refrigerators and freezers.

In response to this historically high rate, the Bank of Canada raised the interest rate from 0.25% to 0.50% in hopes to chill out the inflation.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.