Economists had been expecting an even bigger drop off, to about 6.7 per cent, but food prices pulled the headline number up.
Food purchased at stores increased at a pace of 11.4 per cent. That’s the fastest pace of increase in grocery bills since August 1981.
Some of the price increases in the grocery aisle in the past year are eye-popping:
Cereals are up 17.9 per cent.
Baked goods are up 14.8 per cent.
Fresh fruit is up by 12.9 per cent.
Fresh vegetables are up by 11.8 per cent.
Dairy products are up by 9.7 per cent.
Meat prices are up by 7.6 per cent.
The number means food inflation is almost twice as much as the overall inflation rate. Food inflation has now been higher than the overall rate for 10 months in a row.
Food prices may keep climbing
Worse still, there’s reason to fear that food prices may keep going higher for seasonal and currency reasons.
“We have a weak Canadian dollar right now and we import a lot of what we consume,” economist Derek Holt with Scotiabank said in an interview.
Drought conditions in food-producing parts of Europe and the United States will also push up prices for Canadian shoppers.
“We’re headed in the right direction, I think, as supply chains adjust — but it’s still going to require some patience,” Holt said.
Independent grocer Sue Ghebari says her wholesale costs have increased by more than her prices have this year. (CBC)
While major grocery chains have enough control over their supply chains to put pressure on suppliers to keep prices low, that isn’t the case for independent grocers like Sue Ghebari, co-owner of MRT Family Foods in Calgary.
She says her costs on the wholesale side are up by between 25 to 30 per cent, an increase she can’t pass on to customers because she’ll lose them.
“We’ve tried not to increase prices too much because increasing prices doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to sell the item,” she said. “If it’s too expensive it’s not going to get bought.”
Shoppers blame big grocery chains
In Toronto, shopper John Romanelli says the cost of food is “atrocious” right now and he places the blame squarely at the feet of the big grocery chains.
“They’ve never made more money than they are today,” he told CBC News in an interview Tuesday. “We just went through two years of COVID and they’re making millions off us. … All they’re doing is pocketing everyone’s hardship.”
Increases in the price of food are out of control, and on the streets of Toronto on Tuesday, Canadians told CBC News about what they are doing to deal with them.
Gasoline prices, which were a major contributor to inflation earlier in the year, have now fallen for three months in a row. They’re still, on average, 13 per cent higher than they were a year ago, but they fell by more than seven per cent during the month of September.
Gas prices have risen this month across the country, something that may lead to an unpleasant surprise in next month’s inflation data. “Given that those prices have since reversed, the next month could see headline inflation temporarily heading in the wrong direction,” said CIBC economist Karyne Charbonneau.
Food and energy prices are always volatile, which is why the data agency strips those out of some of its numbers to calculate to get a better sense of the underlying price pressures in the overall economy.
The data agency tabulates three measures — CPI-median, CPI-trim and CPI-common — that taken together are known as “core inflation.”
The core rate was unchanged at 5.3 per cent during the month, a disturbing sign that inflation is starting to become entrenched even as the Bank of Canada has been hiking rates aggressively to rein it in.
Charbonneau says the biggest thing the central bank will take away from the latest inflation numbers is the need for higher rates to further cool demand.
“The Bank of Canada has clearly not slayed the inflation dragon yet and is therefore set for another large rate hike next week.”
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
