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CPI Up: Thanks to HST Bigger Bump

On Friday Stats Canada published the monthly Consumer Price Index Numbers and not surprisingly our beloved friend the HST lent a hand and caused a more severe price jump than expected.


On July 1, 2010, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) came into effect in Ontario and British Columbia. As well, Nova Scotia increased its HST by two percentage points.

The largest year-over-year change occurred in Ontario, where consumer prices rose 2.9% after increasing 1.6% in June. Prices for gasoline, electricity, and passenger vehicle insurance premiums went up. Ontario consumers also paid more for homeowner’s replacement costs.

Thank you Dalton and crew for a tax grab which is not only additive it is inflationary too, this tax just keeps on giving.

CPI past 12 months
CPI With and Without Energy

How bad was Energy price increases you may well ask?

Energy prices rose 7.9% between July 2009 and July 2010, following a 1.3% increase during the 12-month period to June. Excluding energy, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 1.3% in July, after posting a 0.9% increase in June.

And it is those kind of increases that cause trickle through price increases in manufacturing and especially in food prices, so hold onto your hats, more price increases coming soon!

Lots of folks have been saying Deflation is coming soon, my guess is it’s the opposite, the kind of crippling inflation that we saw in the 1970’s is a real possibility, all it will take is another big Energy price jump and we’ll be in it up to our necks and sinking fast (but don’t quote me on that, I have been wrong many times before).

The Really Big Table

Here is the really big table of price increases have a look at your favorites and look for the big jumps on the list.

Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada

Consumer Price Index and major components, Canada
Relative import 1 July ’09 June ’10 July ’10 June to July ’10 July ’09 to July ’10
Not seasonally adjusted
(2002=100) % change
All-items 100.002 114.7 116.2 116.8 0.5 1.8
Food 17.04 122.3 123.0 123.7 0.6 1.1
Shelter 26.62 120.8 123.3 124.3 0.8 2.9
Household operations, furnishings and equipment 11.10 107.1 108.6 109.2 0.6 2.0
Clothing and footwear 5.36 91.3 89.7 88.8 -1.0 -2.7
Transportation 19.88 114.3 117.3 117.4 0.1 2.7
Health and personal care 4.73 112.5 114.7 115.6 0.8 2.8
Recreation, education and reading 12.20 104.3 104.2 105.1 0.9 0.8
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products 3.07 131.5 132.2 134.5 1.7 2.3
Special aggregates
Core CPI3 82.71 113.7 115.6 115.5 -0.1 1.6
All-items excluding energy 90.62 113.5 114.6 115.0 0.3 1.3
Energy 9.38 129.6 135.7 139.8 3.0 7.9
Gasoline 4.92 141.0 142.8 147.8 3.5 4.8
All-items excluding food and energy 73.57 111.5 112.7 113.0 0.3 1.3
Goods 48.78 107.7 108.7 109.1 0.4 1.3
Services 51.22 121.6 123.6 124.5 0.7 2.4
1.2005 CPI basket weights at April 2007 prices, Canada, effective May 2007. Detailed weights are available under the Documentation section of survey 2301 (www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/index-eng.htm).
2.Figures may not add up to 100% as a result of rounding.
3.The measure of core Consumer Price Index (CPI) excludes from the all-items CPI the effect of changes in indirect taxes and eight of the most volatile components identified by the Bank of Canada: fruit, fruit preparations and nuts; vegetables and vegetable preparations; mortgage interest cost; natural gas; fuel oil and other fuel; gasoline; inter-city transportation; and tobacco products and smokers’ supplies. For additional information on the core CPI, consult the Bank of Canada website (http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/inflation/index.htm).

Feel Free to Comment

  1. Just saw an Ontario HST charge on a parcel shipped to me in Alberta. Doesn’t seem right, but apparently everyone gets to share the pain and pay Ontario taxes now? CPI increases for all around, yeah!

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