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.”
Bet that by “average” they mean “mean”, when the median would really be a more useful measure in this case (as it often is with anything to do with wealth).