Inflation Rate Falls To Negative 0.9 Per Cent, Lowest Level Since 1953

The annual inflation rate has dropped to negative 0.9 per cent, the lowest level Canada has seen since 1953.

And we have plunging gasoline prices to blame, noted 680News Senior Business Editor Mike Eppel.

“The big factor in the decline in the inflation rate was what we’ve been seeing at the gas pumps. This time last year we were paying a lot more to fill up the car or truck – 28 per cent more, according to Stats Canada,” Eppel described.

“You see a big price decline of that nature and you get weaker inflationary pressures.”

In July of 1953, prices fell to negative 1.42 per cent on an annualized basis.

There’s also another factor: where you live.

“We’re paying less for housing costs because interest rates are at record lows. Those interest rates will remain at record low valuations likely until the middle of next year at the earliest because the Bank of Canada has said that inflationary pressures are not expected to pick up any time soon.

“We’ll only really start to see inflation rear its ugly head, as it were, in 2011. We could see a very extended period of time here with low interest rates, with the inflation rate as weak as it was in July.

Statistics Canada added that excluding energy, inflation remains a healthy 1.8 per cent.


Here’s what happened in the provinces and territories. (Previous month in brackets):

  • Newfoundland and Labrador -0.9 (0.3)
  • Prince Edward Island -1.3 (-1.1)
  • Nova Scotia -1.0 (-1.1)
  • New Brunswick -0.4 (0.0)
  • Quebec -0.3 (0.2)
  • Ontario -1.2 (0.0)
  • Manitoba 0.0 (0.6)
  • Saskatchewan 0.9 (1.0)
  • Alberta -1.5 (-1.6)
  • British Columbia -1.6 (-0.7)
  • Whitehorse, Yukon -0.8 (0.4)
  • Yellowknife, N.W.T. -0.1 (0.3)
  • Iqaluit, Nunavut 1.5 (3.0)

The agency also released rates for major cities, but cautioned that figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples (Previous month in brackets):

  • St. John’s, N.L., -0.4 (0.9)
  • Charlottetown-Summerside, -0.8 (-0.5)
  • Halifax, -0.7 (-0.8)
  • Saint John, N.B., -0.4 (0.1)
  • Quebec, 0.0 (0.4)
  • Montreal, -0.1 (0.4)
  • Ottawa, -1.0 (0.2)
  • Toronto, -1.1 (0.2)
  • Thunder Bay, Ont., -1.6 (0.0)
  • Winnipeg, 0.0 (0.6)
  • Regina, 1.5 (1.8)
  • Saskatoon, 0.8 (0.7)
  • Edmonton, -1.5 (-1.2)
  • Calgary, -1.1 (-1.5)
  • Vancouver, -1.6 (-0.5)
  • Victoria, -1.1 (0.4)

List credit: The Canadian Press

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