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B.C. now has highest inflation rate in Canada

At 2.4 per cent, Statistics Canada's consumer price index for British Columbia is the highest in the country
Hayley Woodin
According to Statistics Canada's consumer price index for the month of January, inflation in B.C. ro
According to Statistics Canada's consumer price index for the month of January, inflation in B.C. rose by 2.4 per cent year-over-year, a full percentage point above the national average (1.4 per cent). Photo Dan Toulgoet

The rate of inflation in B.C. started 2019 outstripping the pace of price increases in other parts of the country.

According to Statistics Canada's consumer price index (CPI) for the month of January, inflation in B.C. rose by 2.4 per cent year-over-year, a full percentage point above the national average (1.4 per cent).

Inflation in Ontario (1.5 per cent), Quebec (1 per cent) and Alberta (1.2 per cent) all lagged behind Canada's westernmost province.

The new data out today (Feb. 27) shows energy prices and a 16 per cent-drop in airfare costs pulled country's index down from 2 per cent in December 2018.

Falling gasoline prices (-14.2 per cent) and the cost of digital computing devices and equipment (-9.2 per cent) were among the top contributors to year-over-year CPI changes nationally.

The cost of fresh vegetables (+13.2 per cent) and mortgage interest costs (+7.8 per cent) influenced the index in the opposite direction.

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