'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
The first increase in annual inflation since its June 2022 peak was driven in part by higher mortgage interest costs and higher rent prices, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
Mortgage interest costs were up 28.5 per cent in April compared with a year ago as a result of the Bank of Canada raising interest rates at a breakneck pace over the past year. That's up from 26.4 per cent in March and 23.9 per cent in February.
Meanwhile, inflation for rent was 6.1 per cent year over year, up from 5.3 per cent in April.
That's despite overall shelter costs rising at a slower pace in April, at 4.9 per cent.
The year-over-year increase in the homeowners' replacement cost index also slowed for the 12th consecutive month, which Statistics Canada says reflects a general cooling of the housing market.
A report by RBC Economics says shelter was the largest contributor to headline inflation in April, accounting for a third of the growth.
The central bank's interest-rate hikes have come full circle, feeding back into inflation even though other key drivers like commodities have been coming back down, said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, in a note.
However, RBC said year-over-year mortgage interest costs are expected to start slowing because of the central bank's pause on interest rate hikes.
But as for rent, high demand for rental housing could keep prices up. A March report by RBC said Canada's shortage of rental housing could quadruple by 2026, and the fierce demand for rental units has been driving record rent increases.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”