Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
The Canada Day long weekend is the perfect time for burgers on the grill, cold drinks and time with family and friends.
Yet a backyard barbecue comes with a bigger price tag this year.
Food prices soared 9.7 per cent in May compared with a year ago as inflation hit its highest level in nearly 40 years.
Prices for many barbecue favourites like steaks and veggies have increased even more, which will make entertaining with family and friends this weekend costlier.
Using prices gathered by Statistics Canada, the cost of hosting a Canada Day barbecue with eight adults and eight children today would cost $302.04 -- more than 17 per cent higher than in 2021, when the bill came to $257.27.
The higher prices could prompt a shift in shopping and consumption habits as people look to save money at the grocery store.
"Prices are going up much faster than we've been accustomed to for the past four decades," said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Financial Group.
"People may start to switch to cheaper items, especially when it comes to food. They may substitute chicken for steak to save money, for example."
Travelling over the long weekend will take an even bigger bite out of budgets. The cost of filling up one tank of gas and spending a night in a hotel room has risen to about $317 from about $220 a year ago -- nearly 44 per cent higher.
Still, higher costs are not expected to deter Canadians from gathering and celebrating this Canada Day.
"The pent up demand to socialize and get out and have barbecues this summer will outweigh the higher costs," Guatieri said.
"But once households have exhausted some of their savings and the pent up demand has waned, we could start to see a bigger change in behaviour."
Despite skyrocketing costs, Canadians are better off this year compared to last year, University of Toronto economics professor Angelo Melino said.
"More Canadians are working and they're working more hours," he said. "The nation's GDP, the amount of goods and services that we're producing, has gone up and consumption has gone up pretty dramatically."
While some higher costs could encourage Canadians to buy cheaper alternatives at the grocery, the prices for some backyard barbecue staples have remained stable.
"Alcohol and recreational cannabis are not up as much as other things so maybe beer is a cheap first of July beverage ... but maybe (people will buy) hotdogs instead of steaks."
Here is a look at the costs for items on a typical Canada Day barbecue menu.
(Food group percentages are the average price increase in May compared with one year ago, based on Statistics Canada inflation data. Additional details of a specific item's price are average estimates from April 2021 and April 2022, the most recent month for which the price breakdown is available, and are not statistically comparable. Costs are the estimated cost of grocery shopping for a barbecue with 16 people.)
Beef: 11.2 per cent
The cost of a kilogram of striploin steak was $22.87 in April 2021. For a barbecue with eight adults, each consuming a roughly half-kilogram steak, the cost would be $91.48. A year later, the cost was $28.80 per kilogram for a total bill of $115.20.
Chicken: 7.9 per cent
In April 2021, chicken breasts cost $12.58 per kilogram. Two kilograms to share at the barbecue would cost $25.16. Today, with a price of $15.32 per kilogram, the cost would be $30.64.
Hotdogs, sausages: 9.9 per cent
In April 2021, about 400 grams of wieners cost $3.76, or about $7.52 for 800 grams (about two packages). In April 2022, the cost increased to $4.09 for 400 grams, or $8.18 for 800 grams.
Bread, rolls and buns: 11.1 per cent
White bread increased to $3.37 for 675 grams in April 2022 compared with $3.03 in April 2021.
Vegetables: 10.2 per cent, fresh fruit: 11.3 per cent
A kilogram of tomatoes increased to $4.21 from $3.70, a kilogram of potatoes went down to $4.18 from $4.22,a kilogram of onions rose to $5.28 from $4.14 and romaine lettuce rose to $3.58 from $2.63. The price of a cantaloupe rose to $3.28 in April from $2.82 a year before. The cost of one avocado rose to $2.35 in April from $1.76 a year before.
Ice cream: 4.1 per cent
A litre of ice cream that cost about $4.50 in 2021, or $9 for two litres, would now cost about $4.70 or $9.40 for two litres.
Edible fats, oils: 30 per cent, Condiments, spices and vinegars: 20.6 per cent
A litre of ketchup rose to $4.07 from $3.32, mayonnaise rose to $5.93 from $4.55 and vegetable oil increased to $10.83 for three litres, up from $6.48 a year before.
Beer: 4.8 per cent
A 24-pack of beer that cost $47.50 a year ago would cost about $49.50 today.
Wine: 4.7 per cent
A $20 bottle of wine a year ago would cost a little under $21 today, or $40 for two bottles compared with $42 today.
The total cost of hosting a Canada Day barbecue in 2021 would have been about $257.31. Today the same barbecue would cost $302.00 -- more than 17 per cent higher.
For those travelling this Canada Day weekend, inflation will hit even harder.
Traveller accommodation: 40.2 per cent
Hotel rooms have gone up from about $141 a year ago to about $200 in May.
Gasoline: 48 per cent
Gasoline prices in Canada in May 2021 were $1.32 a litre. In May 2022, prices across Canada hit an average $1.95 a litre. The cost to fill up a 60 litre gas tank rose from $79.20 each in 2021 to $117 each in 2021.
For a family travelling this Canada Day and filling up one tank of gas and spending one night in a hotel room, the cost has risen from about $220.20 to $317 -- nearly 44 per cent higher.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2022.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.