Higher gas prices helped push national inflation to two per cent in April, up from the year-over-year consumer price increase of 1.9 per cent in March. Victoria’s year-over-year inflation remains at 2.7 per cent, the highest among Canadian cities last month. File photo.
The annual inflation rate in Victoria kept the same pace in April but is the highest in Canada.
Statistics Canada released inflation figures that show Victoria’s rate unchanged last month compared to March at 2.7 per cent, two-tenths higher than Vancouver with the second highest rate in April at 2.5 per cent.
Among major Candian cities, Winnipeg and Toronto have the third highest consumer price index year-over-year increase at 2.2 per cent, although Stats Canada cautioned data may have fluctuated widely because they are based on small statistical samples.
Stronger price pressures from gasoline helped picked up the pace of annual inflation last month in Canada, with an April reading of two per cent, compared to 1.9 per cent in March and 1.5 per cent in February.
The price at the pump reached record highs in Victoria last month, and has settled at around 161.9 cents-per-litre.
In April, B.C. increased its existing carbon-pricing system and Prince Edward Island introduced its own carbon levy.
The report said the six provinces where carbon levies were introduced or increased in April saw a larger month-over-month rise in prices at the pump.
The federal Liberal government applied carbon levies last month on New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan because they did not have similar systems of their own.
The federal move has caused controversy, and provincial governments have vowed to fight the mandated systems.
Excluding volatile items such as gasoline, the Stats Canada report said the average of it three gauges for core inflation slowed to 1.9 per cent in April from two per cent in March.
Those gauges are considered better measures of underlying price pressures.
With files from the Canadian Press.
CHEK News
