BRITISH COLUMBIA – Canadian prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 4.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis in August, rising at the fastest rate since 2003.
This rise was mostly the result of an accumulation of price increases in 2021, while August itself did not post high price growth. On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, the CPI was up 0.2 per cent in August.
The Bank of Canada‘s preferred measures of core inflation (which use techniques to strip out volatile elements) rose an average of 2.6 per cent year-over-year in August. Major drivers of the price increase included passenger vehicles (+7.2 per cent), furniture (+8.7 per cent) and household appliances (+5.3 per cent) partly on continuing supply-chain difficulties related to semiconductors.
The homeowner replacement cost index, which measures the cost of replacing home structures, rose 14.3 per cent year-over-year in August, which was the fastest rate since the 1980s. Related costs, such as commissions on the sale of real estate, also rose strongly in August.
In BC, consumer prices were up 0.2 per cent month-over-month, and up 3.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis.
