'A survival game': How the cost of living has changed since the 2021 federal election

CBC

07-04-2025

Rachel Chiasson, 36, recently settled into an apartment in Edmonton's Cromdale neighbourhood, ending a nearly two-year endeavour that included a period of precarious living situations.
She was renovicted from her Calgary apartment in May 2023. The management company gave her eight months' notice, Chiasson said, but she had to uproot her life because she couldn't find anywhere else nearby to live.
Chiasson, a licensed practical nurse, tried moving to Edmonton, but again struggled to find housing, she said.
She, her German Shepherd and two cats lived in her car for two weeks, then a motel for one month, before finding a place in Redwater, Alta. She commuted about 60 kilometres to and from Edmonton for work, until she finally found her new apartment in the city.
"[Inflation has] affected me immensely," said Chiasson, who's originally from Halifax. "I was homeless — and I know lots of other people are facing this on the daily. There have been times when I've not had much money to even just eat.
"It was hard for me mentally, physically, financially … and I was still working during that time," she said.
The steep, years-long rising cost of living is still a top federal election issue, especially amid the U.S. trade war.
Using Statistics Canada's monthly consumer price index (CPI) data, which measures inflation on goods and services, CBC News calculated Alberta's inflation rate since the last federal election in September 2021.
Overall, prices grew by about 13.7 per cent as of February, the latest month for which data is available. The national rate was nearing 14.1 per cent, data shows.
But inflation is not uniform, as markets differ for things like food, gas, rent and streaming service subscriptions.
At the grocery store, for example, coffee and tea are almost 40 per cent more expensive, while eggs cost 25 per cent more, data shows. But reading materials — including books, newspapers and magazines — are five per cent cheaper.
"This is substantial inflation," said Beyza Ural Marchand, a University of Alberta economics professor.
Ural Marchand is currently researching how the recent inflation has impacted Canadians, but could not yet divulge any of her findings. Her previous research, however, has found that lower-income households tend to be hit harder by inflation.
Poorer households may consume about the same as higher-income households, but a larger share of their budget is dedicated to necessities, she said. If prices of essential products rise, they have less money to spend on other things, whereas wealthier households have more wiggle room.
Multiple people told CBC News how their wallets and purse strings have tightened since the 2021 election. Some, like Chiasson, have experienced homelessness.
Homeward Trust, an Edmonton agency dedicated to improving homelessness, estimated that more than 2,900 people in Edmonton experienced homelessness in 2023 — an increase of about 1,100 from 2021, when it estimated about 1,800 people experienced homelessness, municipal data shows.
The dataset lists inflation as a contributing factor.
"Something has to give," said Belinda King, 63. She was homeless in Edmonton for 10 months, much of which was spent in a women's shelter.
"I had no addictions," she said. "I found myself homeless because the price of everything is going up, and the wages and incomes don't go up. I never chose to be homeless."
King, who now lives in an apartment in the Dickinsfield area in the city's north side, said she worries she could be on the street again.
She underwent knee replacements and hasn't recovered enough to work again, she said. In the meantime, she's scraping by on her CPP and AISH payments — the latter of which could be cut back.
The six major federal parties — the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Bloc Québécois, Green Party and People's Party of Canada (PPC) — each promised initiatives to address the higher cost of living, should they form government after the election on April 28.
The measures mainly include tax breaks and changes to social programs that aim to help Canadians keep more money in their pockets.
The parties have also detailed how they each plan to increase the housing supply — affordable units and otherwise — and some measures that would seek to make buying a home easier for Canadians.
The U.S. trade war, however, could compound the affordability issue.
The United States government imposed tariffs on Canadian imports that don't comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the free trade agreement between the North American neighbours: 10 per cent on potash and energy products and 25 per cent on everything else.
But the U.S. recently made exceptions for Canadian steel, aluminum and automobiles. Those goods are getting taxed an extra 25 per cent, regardless of complicity.
Canadian companies affected by tariffs may have to lay off workers. Retail companies could absorb higher costs or try to recoup those costs by raising prices for consumers.
Ural Marchand expects retailers — grocery chains in particular — to raise prices, she said, noting that they've done so in other recent moments of high inflation, such as when the war in Ukraine affected supply chains.
"Given that they did not absorb the previous shocks, it seems unlikely," Ural Marchand said.
"They all led to having these corporations making even larger profits, not lower."
WATCH | Affordability, health care crucial election issues for seniors:
Affordability, health care crucial election issues for seniors
3 days ago
Duration 2:00
Seniors enjoying karaoke night at Edmonton's Norwood Legion told CBC what matters to them in the upcoming federal election. Their issues? The cost of living, pension security, affordable housing and top-notch health care.
The federal and provincial governments have enacted countermeasures to the U.S. tariffs. The federal political parties have also made tariff-related promises, some of which focus on helping laid-off workers from affected sectors.
In the meantime, Lorephil Toledo, a single mother who owns a cleaning company in Edmonton, is just trying to get by.
At work, she is navigating higher prices for supplies and losing clientele who opt for cheaper services, said Toledo, 37. She has laid off staff and hired her two teenagers to help on weekends.
Meanwhile, she also has to make sure she brings home enough money to feed her kids, she said.
"It's a survival game," she said.
Toledo, who received Canadian citizenship last year after immigrating from the Philippines, will be voting federally for the first time, she said.
She is still researching with which candidate she most aligns, but the economy is her top issue, she said.