OTTAWA –
Statistics Canada says the annual pace of inflation in October rose to 4.7 per cent.
The agency says it was the largest year-over-year gain in the consumer price index since February 2003.
The increase compared with a year-over-year increase in the consumer price index of 4.4 per cent in September.
Factors for rising inflation include snarls in supply chains, bumps in prices at the pump and comparisons to lows seen one year earlier.
Statistics Canada says gasoline prices rose 41.7 per cent compared with October 2020 for the fastest increase since this past May.
Excluding energy prices, Statistics Canada says the consumer price index would have been up 3.3 per cent last month compared with October 2020.
Canada’s national annual inflation rate was 4.7 per cent in October, Statistics Canada says. Here’s what happened in the provinces (previous month in brackets):
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Newfoundland and Labrador: 4.5 per cent (4.4) -
Prince Edward Island: 6.6 per cent (6.3) -
Nova Scotia: 5.4 per cent (5.2) -
New Brunswick: 5.5 per cent (5.1) -
Quebec: 5.3 per cent (5.1) -
Ontario: 4.9 per cent (4.4) -
Manitoba: 4.7 per cent (4.7) -
Saskatchewan: 3.2 per cent (3.3) -
Alberta: 4.3 per cent (4.0) -
British Columbia: 3.8 per cent (3.5)
The agency also released rates for major cities, but cautioned that figures may have fluctuated widely because they are based on small statistical samples (previous month in brackets):
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St. John’s, N.L.: 3.6 per cent (3.8) -
Charlottetown-Summerside: 6.7 per cent (6.2) -
Halifax: 5.0 per cent (4.8) -
Saint John, N.B.: 5.2 per cent (4.9) -
Quebec City: 4.5 per cent (4.2) -
Montreal: 5.1 per cent (5.1) -
Ottawa: 5.5 per cent (5.3) -
Toronto: 4.0 per cent (3.8) -
Thunder Bay, Ont.: 3.6 per cent (4.1) -
Winnipeg: 4.5 per cent (4.5) -
Regina: 2.9 per cent (2.8) -
Saskatoon: 2.9 per cent (3.2) -
Edmonton: 4.1 per cent (3.7) -
Calgary: 4.3 per cent (4.2) -
Vancouver: 3.8 per cent (3.6) -
Victoria: 2.6 per cent (2.4) -
Whitehorse: 4.9 per cent (4.9) -
Yellowknife: 4.2 per cent (4.8) -
Iqaluit: 2.1 per cent (2.6)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2021
