OTTAWA: Canadians paid 4.7 percent more for goods and services in October from a year earlier, as inflation led by a sharp rise in gasoline prices rose to an 18-year high, the government statistical agency said Wednesday.
"Inflation hasn't been this hot in Canada since J. Lo was topping the charts back in 2003," CIBC economist Royce Mendes said in a research note.
Statistics Canada said prices rose in all major components of its Consumer Price Index, led by higher transportation costs that included a 41.7-percent increase in the price of gasoline.
Shortages of other energy sources such as coal and natural gas led major economies to use more oil for power generation, and this contributed to the higher prices at the pump, it explained.
Prices for homes, passenger vehicles and meat also rose, while the costs of mortgage interest, car insurance premiums, telephone services, fresh vegetables and computer equipment fell in the month, it said.
October was the seventh month in a row in which inflation topped the Bank of Canada's target range of one to three percent.
Concerns over inflation prompted the central bank last month to move up the timing for a possible rate hike from the second half to "middle quarters" of next year.
That could mean an increase from the current historic low of 0.25 percent as early as April.
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