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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

BC consumers continue to get hit in the wallet – in the food group, the highest rise in prices was for fresh vegetables, increasing by 14.1 percent!


The latest information is out from BC Stats, and on the positive site, when it came to the sale of goods manufactured in British Columbia, they increased 3.8% in March ... a turnaround from the month before when there was a 1.7% loss.

So, a bit of good news when it came to the sale of goods manufactured in BC

Meantime, BC’s consumer price index (CPI) was 2.7% higher last month, compared to a year ago.  Here’s where we continue to get hit in the wallet the most:

The cost of food climbed 3.2% since April of 2018, with the prices for groceries purchased from stores up 3.4%.  Within the food category, the highest rise in prices was for fresh vegetables (+14.1%), followed by coffee and tea (+8.1%), fresh fruit (+4.1%), and meat (+3.3%).

Further, housing costs continued to climb last month – increasing by 2.7% percent – that was for both homeowners, and renters.  Other items included in the housing category, which also saw increases in prices, were piped gas which increased by 10.4% ... electricity up 1.6%) ... and a small increase of 0.4 percent for fuel oil and other fuel.

The overall cost of clothing and footwear was also on the rise (+1.9%) compared to April last year, although the price for footwear (+2.7%) increased at a higher rate than that for clothing (+1.6%).

Another big increase, impacting many British Columbians, was the cost of gasoline, which was up 6.3 percent from a year ago.

Year over year, the people of BC paid 3 percent more for recreation, education and reading ... and an additional 1.6 percent for health and personal care.

Finally, looking at Canada as a whole, the consumer price index (CPI) was up 2 percent.  However, the award for Highest Consumer Price Increases go to ... British Columbia (+2.7%), Manitoba (+2.3%) and Saskatchewan (+2.3%) due to the rate of inflation.

Visit the Consumer Price Index page for more information.
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