Inflation has eased, but grocery prices are up — and British Columbians are struggling

Johna Baylon · CBC News

· Posted: May 25, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 25

As market ostentation outpaces wide ostentation for the 3rd period successful a row, galore British Columbians are uncovering themselves squeezed and progressively worrying astir debt. 

Canada's ostentation complaint eased successful April, pursuing the national government's removal of the user c taxation and little crude lipid prices. 

Despite that, market prices saw a 3.8 per cent year-over-year summation past month, up from a year-over-year leap of 3.2 per cent in March. Some non-profits say the higher prices are placing much British Columbians successful a crunch.

"We're really seeing radical travel to america with higher amounts of indebtedness arsenic a effect of each that accumulated borrowing and higher costs of surviving and higher outgo of groceries that's stacked up implicit the past mates of years," says Isaiah Chan, vice-president of programs and services with the Credit Counselling Society.

The non-profit, which offers escaped recognition counselling to assistance radical with their monetary challenges, is seeing an summation successful the magnitude of indebtedness among clients coming to them for indebtedness alleviation assistance — astir 14 per cent much compared to the aforesaid clip past year.

Chan says clients are borrowing much expensively, resorting to lines of recognition and payday loans contempt being alert of the precocious involvement rates. 

"That to maine is indicative of conscionable the wide accent — similar radical are not typically going to get astatine higher costs for luxury items oregon conscionable benignant of wants," Chan says. "They're doing that due to the fact that they request to."

Household spending has gone up crossed each income groups successful Canada, but those making the slightest are paying proportionally more.

From 2021 to 2023, households with the lowest incomes allocated 17.9 per cent of their wage cheques to nutrient and 34.8 per cent to shelter, according to Statistics Canada's latest survey of household spending, released this week. For the highest earning households, those aforesaid numbers were 14.6 and 32.2 per cent, respectively.

More British Columbians are besides expressing concerns astir debt.

The MNP Consumer Debt Index, successful its latest quarterly report last month, recovered that 58 per cent of the radical they surveyed in B.C. expressed "heightened concern" astir paying disconnected their debt, up from 49 per cent the erstwhile quarter.

The indebtedness index is conducted four times each twelvemonth and includes conscionable implicit 2,000 adults crossed the country. It's close wrong positive oregon minus 2.5 percent points 19 times retired of 20.

The scale besides recovered that slightly more British Columbians consciousness little prepared to grip an involvement complaint summation of 1 per cent, and more report being $200 oregon little distant from insolvency — some seeing a 2 percent constituent summation from last quarter.

"It conscionable means that radical don't person immoderate wiggle country successful their budget," says Linda Paul, a licensed insolvency trustee astatine MNP. "So if there's immoderate benignant of unexpected nonaccomplishment of income oregon irregular expense, similar a car repair oregon thing of that nature, they conscionable can't sorb it without having to usage credit."

She adds that people's fiscal exigency pools are getting smaller "because they're spending their aboriginal wealth on servicing debt."

The grocery-inflation crunch has besides been reflected successful information astir increasing nutrient insecurity and demand for nutrient banks, which have gone up successful the past year. 

Alžběta Sabová, manager of nutrient information with United Way, says grocery price increases are having "an tremendous impact" connected families' budgets and priorities, with nutrient often the archetypal to spell erstwhile resources get funnelled into fixed expenses similar rent.

The non-profit is seeing upwards of a 15 per cent summation successful request for their nutrient hubs, which offer free groceries and different essentials to radical who request them, compared to past year.

"We are seeing a batch of parents and a batch of moving folks that person one, two, 3 jobs," Sabová says. "And truthful I tin conscionable ideate that if someone's moving already that overmuch and inactive needs support, determination mightiness beryllium immoderate precise superior fiscal constraints."

Chan attributes the crunch to large upheavals successful the past respective years — the COVID-19 pandemic, governmental uncertainty federally and internationally, and the caller tariff warfare — paired with wage increases that haven't caught up.

He advises mentation and focusing connected what's wrong one's control: minimizing discretionary expenses, having pugnacious conversations with partners and kids astir fiscal priorities, and reaching retired to professionals for assistance astir debt.

He's besides advising that Canadians "hang successful there."

"It took galore years for each of this to truly happen," helium says. "It's going to instrumentality implicit the people of a fewer years for these things to unwind and for america to truly consciousness immoderate alleviation successful our, successful our pocketbooks."