Inflation and higher interest rates have eroded Canadians’ purchasing power since 2022, particularly for lower-income households, a new report from the parliamentary budget officer has found.
But wealthier households have seen their purchasing power rise thanks in big part to their investment income.
Over a longer time period — since the last quarter of 2019 — the average purchasing power of Canadian households rose by 21 per cent.
For the lower-income households, “small increases in income were not enough to counteract the effect of inflation on their purchasing power.”
And yet there are still people who would deny it unless the facts were presented in an official report.