Annual inflation rate 6.8% in November in Canada

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.8 per cent year over year in November, following a 6.9 per cent increase in October, reported Statistics Canada on Wednesday.

Excluding food and energy, prices rose 5.4 per cent on a yearly basis in November, following a gain of 5.3% in October, added the federal agency.

Gustavo Fring

“On a monthly basis, gasoline prices fell 3.6 per cent in November following a 9.2 per cent increase in October, largely driven by price declines in Western Canada. The reopening of refineries in the western United States contributed to lower prices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Year over year, gasoline prices rose 13.7 per cent in November after rising 17.8 per cent in October,” it said.

“Some notable year-over-year price increases were seen for products such as edible fats and oils (+26.0 per cent), coffee and tea (+16.8 per cent), eggs (+16.7 per cent), cereal products (+15.7 per cent) and bakery products (+15.5 per cent).”

Leslie Preston, Senior Economist with TD Economics, said the inflation report was a step in the right direction, in line with its forecast for a gradual cooling in inflation over the coming year (

“Core inflation pressures have been somewhat slow to cool, but are roughly consistent with our December forecast. Canadian consumers are showing signs of strain under the weight of high inflation and higher interest rates, with retail sales losing momentum in recent months (see commentary). This is expected to translate to softer price pressures, which are starting to show up in categories like furniture and clothing,” said Preston.

“The Bank of Canada will get to see another inflation report before their next interest rate announcement at the end of January. With the battle against inflation not yet won, we expect the Bank to hike a quarter point, and then take a pause to assess the cumulative impact of a year of dramatic tightening on the economy.”

“Turning the temperature down on inflation is proving to be an achingly slow process, and we suspect this may be a theme for 2023,” said Doug Porter, Chief Economics, BMO Economics. “While lower pump prices will help chop next month’s rate, the fact that many measures of core inflation are still nudging higher is a clear warning sign of persistent underlying pressures. We are leaning to the view that the Bank of Canada hikes rates one more time in January to 4.5%, and this firm report does nothing to doubt that call. If anything, the stickiness in core trends around 5% or higher hints at the possibility of even further rate hikes later on—and that’s something nobody is talking about.

(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)