Canada’s inflation rate fell to 2.9 per cent in January, according to a Statistics Canada report.Cole Burston/Canadian Press
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Canada’s inflation rate fell to 2.9%, back within the central bank’s target range
Canada’s inflation rate surprisingly fell in January, returning to the Bank of Canada’s target range. Statistics Canada said Tuesday that the consumer price index rose by an annualized 2.9 per cent in January, down from a 3.4 per cent rise in December. Analysts had expected a slight easing to 3.3%, Matt Lundy reported. January’s inflation report raised investors’ expectations that the Bank of Canada would start cutting interest rates in the first half of this year, likely in April or June. The next interest rate announcement will be on March 6th.
Statisticscan shows that mobile phone charges are plummeting.the truth is more complicated
In other news from Statistics Canada, cell phone rates are falling. According to Statistics Scan’s Consumer Price Index, prices for mobile phone services fell by 27% in 2023. This trend continued for some time, with wireless prices dropping 50% in five years. But the truth about what’s happening to mobile phone bills is more complex, and the Statscan numbers likely exaggerate the extent to which people are paying less, say Matt Lundy and Alexandra Posatzki has reported.
Decoder: It appears the renter is moving away from Ontario.
Ontario is facing a population exodus to other parts of Canada. But there is one group that is leaving the state in droves. That’s a group of young people, especially those in their 20s, who are overwhelmingly made up of renters. Last year, 14,100 more people in their 20s left Ontario for other provinces and territories than came to the province. This may be due to the rising cost of living and rising rent prices. This week in his Decoder, Jason Kirby takes a closer look.
B.C.’s multi-million dollar mining problem
British Columbia is entering a new era in mining aimed at building a low-carbon economy. But an investigation by The Globe and Mail and The Narwhal found the state is millions of dollars short of the estimated cleanup costs. In the event of a disaster, taxpayers could be on the hook for even more money. Francesca Fionda, Jeffrey Jones, and Chen Wang spent months scouring publicly available records, scrutinizing financial data, and interviewing experts about B.C.’s mine reclamation plans. found that B.C. was short $753 million in cleanup costs estimated in the plan. Last fiscal year.
Report says farm income hits record high despite extreme weather
Canada’s agricultural sector is expected to reach record revenues in 2023 despite drought, extreme weather and global conflicts, according to a report from Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Canada. Ottawa estimates that the average income for farmers in 2023 will increase by 11% to $239,000. That trend could be reversed this year, Eileen Galea reports. Forecasts for 2024 suggest that the industry could reverse this year, with prices for major grains expected to continue to fall and cattle prices to rise more slowly.
Social services officials told her to apply for CERB, now she owes $14,000
An Ontario woman who receives social assistance due to a disability was told by her social worker in spring 2020 to apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) — even though she didn’t think she would qualify. Despite that, he is now required to pay back $14,000. Anti-poverty groups say the case shows flaws in state regulations for social assistance programs, Erica Arini reports. Ontario requires welfare recipients to pursue other financial resources available to them, even if they are unsure whether they actually qualify. Inadequate language in provincial rules has led to many low-income Canadians across the country mistakenly applying for federal pandemic relief, advocates say.
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