According to Statistics Canada, the consumer price index was up 3.4 percent in April compared to a year ago. Last year a lot of prices sunk due to the COVID-19 pandemic so the consumer price index was much lower. As a result, StatsCan says year-over-year inflation increased at its fastest pace since May 11.

In April gasoline prices were up 62.5 percent on a year-year basis, making it the largest annual increase StatsCan has recorded. If they removed gasoline prices, the annual inflation in April would have dropped to 1.9 percent, says Statistics Canada. Each province saw a rise in inflation but Atlantic Canada saw an even greater increase because they use more furnace fuel oil.

A senior economist at Action Economics, Ryan Brecht, said that the central bank most likely views the spike as temporary due to the low numbers a year ago. But Derek Holt, the vice-president of Capital Market Economics at Scotiabank feels inflation is “at risk.”

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