Blog – How to address the high cost of Living in Canada and around the world Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated for the second month in a row in August. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated for the second month in a row in August, increasing 4 per cent as the price of gasoline surged. Economists had expected a 3.8 per cent annual increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to Reuters. Statistics Canada said the increase in inflation was largely driven by rising gas prices. Gas prices jumped 0.8 per cent in August, the first year-over-year increase since January, driven in part by base-year effects as prices fell during the same month in 2022. On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.4 per cent in August, a slowdown from July’s monthly gain of 0.6 per cent. Seasonally adjusted, CPI increased 0.6 per cent. Higher rent and mortgage interest costs also contributed to the rise in CPI as shelter prices jumped 6 per cent annually, up from July's 5.1 per cent increase. The increase was led by the rent index, which increased 6.5 per cent annually compared to a gain of 5.5 per cent in July. While food prices have remained stubbornly high in Canada, the cost of food purchased from grocery stores increased 6.9 per cent year-over-year in August, a moderation from the 8.5 per cent increase recorded in July. On a monthly basis, grocery prices were down 0.4 per cent. Two of the Bank of Canada's three closely watched core measures of underlying inflation posted gains. CPI-median edged up to 4.1 per cent from 3.9 per cent in July, while CPI-trim rose to 3.9 per cent from 3.6 per cent. The central bank flagged earlier in September that inflation would be higher in the near term due to recent increases in gasoline prices. https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadas-inflation-rate-accelerates-again-jumping-4-per-cent-august-123413515.html

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How to tame
Inflation
P a u l Yo u n g C PA C G A
D a t a a n d A I t h o u g h t l e a d e r wi t h f o c u s o n
c u s t o m e r s u c c e s s .
S e p t e m b e r 1 9 , 2 0 2 3

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Paul Young - Bio
• CPA, CGA (1996)
• Academia (PF1, FA4, FN2, MU1. and MS2)
• SME – Customer Success Management
• SME – Risk Management
• SME – Close, Consolidate and Reporting
• SME – ESG and Sustainability Reporting and
Policy Development
• SME – Public Policy
• SME – Emerging Technology
• SME – Business Process Change
• SME – Financial Solutions
• SME – Macro/Micro Indicators
• SME – Supply Chain Management
• SME – Data, AI, Security, and Platform
• SME – Internal Controls and Auditing
Contact information email: Paul_Young_CGA@outlook.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-young-055632b/

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Agenda
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• Inflation – United States
• Inflation – Canada
• Inflation – Canada vs United States
• Inflation – G20
• Commodities
• Magna Profits
• Forestry Profits
• Small to Medium-Size Enterprises
• Areas of focus
• Productivity
• FDI
• Innovation
• Skills Gap
• Automation / Generative AI

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Inflation – United States
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Source – United States Government

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Inflation – Canada and the United States
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Source – Stats Canada and BMO

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G20 / Inflation
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Source - https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/inflation-rate?continent=g20

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Key Cost Driver
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Commodities
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Magna Profits
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Blog - Magna International reports Q1 profits down from a year ago, sales up 11 percent -
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_magna-international-reports-q1-profits-down-activity-
7060957150856040448-tMQe?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
The company says the increase in sales came as global light vehicle production gained three per cent, including an eight per cent
gain in North America and seven per cent in Europe.
Magna International Inc. upgraded its outlook for its sales and profit for the year as it reported its first-quarter profit fell
compared with a year ago and its sales rose 11 per cent.
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/magna-international-reports-q1-profits-down-from-a-
year-ago-sales-up-11-291425/
This is a great opportunity to review your integrated business planning and reporting model as part of doing a
profitability review of your operations.
https://actionkpi.com/integrated-profitability-program/
Blog – Automotive Industry Analysis and Commentary – April 2023 - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blog-
automotive-industry-analysis-commentary-april-2023-paul-young

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Forestry
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Blog – Canfor latest quarterly results - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_canfor-the-vancouver-
based-forestry-company-activity-7059859323945959424-yTd6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
The Vancouver-based forestry company says strong earnings from its European operations and more modest results
from its operations in the U.S. South were outweighed by continued pricing pressure on its western Canadian
operations.
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/canfor-reports-a-142m-q1-loss-291340/
This ties nicely into organizations needing to review their integrated planning and reporting cycle as part of looking at
better ways to maximize profit, improving cash flow, and other various returns on investment. https://actionkpi.com/
and https://actionkpi.com/forest-products-solution/ and https://actionkpi.com/forest-products-solution/
This also ties into my presentation on manufacturing - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/manufacturing-
sector-canada-february-2023-and-march-2023pptx

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Small to Medium-Size Enterprises
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Blog - CFO for Small to Medium-Size Business - Business Planning https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_small-company-
cfos-gear-up-for-heightened-activity-7030956843069816832-ZhgC?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
https://www.cfo.com/spend-management/2023/02/small-company-cfos-gear-up-for-heightened-spending/
This ties nicely into my work on data strategy. Data strategy is key area for small to medium-size companies as part of having trusted data to
drive better business outcomes.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_top-reporting-challenges-facing-both-the-activity-7029799254126718977-
3Voh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
https://medium.com/@paul.young_40784/why-you-need-a-data-strategy-eb8c351fa72e
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_top-reporting-challenges-facing-both-the-activity-7029799254126718977-
3Voh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Both the private and public sectors continue to struggle with data management. Many issues driven the data management related to siloed
data caused through legacy databases required to as part of day-to-day operations.
Key to solving data siloes comes down to having the right data strategy. It is particularly important to sit down with all stakeholders and
mapped up a data strategy as part of becoming a data driven organization.
My work is a fantastic way to expand various discussions around how to change organizations to a data driven culture:
Reporting Challenges – https://ibm.box.com/s/syb5av487y52vfrgfswby0vj2ky8kru4
Sustainability Reporting - https://ibm.box.com/s/pg926m3frpa2tgt6spyzwry22bdcbo8j

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Construction Costs
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Blog – Construction – Bird Construction Financial Performance for 1Q23 - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-
055632b_bird-construction-inc-announces-2023-first-activity-7071829185769467904-
JT4i?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Bird Construction congrats on your 1Q23 results!
Continuing the Company's momentum from the end of 2022, Bird achieved a significant increase in construction
revenue for the first quarter of 2023, with healthy seasonal margins reflecting strong execution across work
programs. At the same time, Bird grew its Backlog and Pending Backlog to record combined levels, including
recurring revenue awards now exceeding $1.1 billion.
Construction sector has struggled with weather conditions as well as higher labour and raw material costs. This is
fantastic time for the construction sector to review their integrated business planning and reporting cycle as part
of managing both their backlogs and active projects.

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Greed Inflation
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It seems a few economists are saying to stop pushing the 2.1% inflation target as it will do more ham than good. The new target should be
4%. I called the 4% target out months ago! https://fortune.com/2023/01/21/top-economist-mohamed-el-erian-inflation-stick-4-not-
alone-economic-outlook/
My work: https://www.slideshare.net/secret/1dhWAhbnN3nEb5
Blog – How to reduce the Cost of Living – Analysis and Commentary – January 2023 - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blog-how-reduce-
cost-living-analysis-commentary-january-paul-young
Food costs and supply continues to impact consumers around the world - https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/food-price-
hikes-coming-february-cost-blackout-ends-metro-ceo or https://ca.movies.yahoo.com/food-shortages-five-ways-fix-061207409.html
Improving crop yields - https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/18757-opinion-the-potential-of-breakthrough-crop-technologies-for-africa
Looking at the best way to support vertical and expert farming - https://igrownews.com/boosting-tomato-yields-in-qatar-a-collaboration-
with-texas-am/ or https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/vertical-farming-technology-market-remain-positive-on-improving-demand-
outlook-till-2030
Leverage technology as part of improving crop yields and food production - https://technative.io/how-ai-will-yield-major-benefits-for-
agriculture/ or https://www.alltech.com/blog/10-agri-tech-disruptions-could-shape-future-farming-and-
food?utm_term=&utm_campaign=Stevermers+-+PoP+-+NA+-+Performance+Max+-
+2022&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=9535665100&hsa_cam=19117656926&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_
tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw8OeBhCeARIsAGxWtUymoF0toFe96TXhEOvNeFeUjdg2kMc5Ai
gMTptwER7D3zuRxHmr1q0aAtoaEALw_wcB

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Productivity
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FDI
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Innovation
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Canada has lagged behind its peer nations in innovation for decades. Currently, Canada ranked 11th out of the 16 similarly
developed countries assessed. While our “C” grade is a moderate improvement over our previous “D” grade, innovation remains a
barrier to high-quality job creation and economic prosperity in Canada.
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/features/canada-needs-to-invest-more-money-into-science-innovation-to-
help-prevent-the-next-global-crisis/
My work - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/policy-review-innovation-and-scientific-research-rd-canada

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Skills Gap
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The report, which looked at labour data between 2016 and 2022, found for jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or
higher education, there were always fewer jobs available than people to fill them.
For example, there were 113,000 vacant positions requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher education in the fourth
quarter of 2022, but 227,000 individuals who held such an education were unemployed during the same period.
But for positions that required a high school diploma or less, the shortage of workers only started in the third quarter
of 2021.
Morissette said the findings don’t mean that there are no labour shortages in some markets, but shortages may not be
as extensive as previously assumed.
https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/statcan-report-shows-that-widespread-labour-shortage-in-canada-is-
inaccurate-291961/ or https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-young-055632b_statcan-report-shows-that-widespread-labour-
activity-7069280165972873216-KxoX?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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Food Costs
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As a CPA and Data and AI Thought Leader, I am about solutions. All levels of government and the
private sector need to address issues with the food supply chain -
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/challenges-addressing-high-food-costs-all-levels-government-
young

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Automation / Generative AI
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Budget constraints remain the top obstacle to new technology investments by companies, although at a diminished level compared with September, according to
a recent survey of corporate finance leaders.
About half of respondents were already in the process of adopting modern technologies to support finance functions, according to the survey, which was
conducted by Hanover Research on behalf of U.S. finance software provider OneStream. Many of the remaining respondents (43%) said they were planning to
do so this year or in 2024.
However, some finance leaders said they were facing obstacles when it comes to modern technology investments across the broader organization, with more
than a quarter saying such challenges could be an implementation barrier. Lack of budget support topped the list of hurdles at 38%, down from 51% when
OneStream sponsored a similar survey in September.
https://www.cfodive.com/news/costs-top-finance-automation-hurdle-AI-machine-learning/650352/
I will also add that automation is key part of productivity as such needs to go through a proper business process change cycle.
Either adopting new automation business process or expanding additional use cases for automation also require a proper business plan and project map.
CFO will continue to face pressures on how best to leverage data and AI to streamline the regulatory and corporate reporting cycles.
Additional Link - Blog - Automation can curb finance burnout - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7050803671864922112/

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Area of focus
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• Improving productivity through business automation and targeted capital spending.
• Transition to clean energy through ROI and profitability assessment
• All levels of government addressing their fiscal management cycle including implementing more
value for money and performance audits.
• Streamlining of regulations as part of building a resilient supply chain
• Revamping R&D tax credits as part of encourage more innovations
• Elimination of carbon taxes and more focus on technology that will be support the circular economy.
• Addressing skills gap through training and education
• Adoption of 3D housing as part reducing the cost of housing
• Better balanced between protecting the environment and growing the economy in a sustainable way.
• Urban vs rural strategy that will support sustainable economy growth as part of managing the climate
change risks
Blog – How to address the high cost of Living in Canada and around the world
Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated for the second month in a row in August. (THE CANADIAN
PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated for the second month in a row in August, increasing 4
per cent as the price of gasoline surged.
Economists had expected a 3.8 per cent annual increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI),
according to Reuters.
Statistics Canada said the increase in inflation was largely driven by rising gas prices. Gas prices
jumped 0.8 per cent in August, the first year-over-year increase since January, driven in part by
base-year effects as prices fell during the same month in 2022.
On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.4 per cent in August, a slowdown from July’s monthly gain
of 0.6 per cent. Seasonally adjusted, CPI increased 0.6 per cent.
Higher rent and mortgage interest costs also contributed to the rise in CPI as shelter prices
jumped 6 per cent annually, up from July's 5.1 per cent increase. The increase was led by the rent
index, which increased 6.5 per cent annually compared to a gain of 5.5 per cent in July.
While food prices have remained stubbornly high in Canada, the cost of food purchased from
grocery stores increased 6.9 per cent year-over-year in August, a moderation from the 8.5 per
cent increase recorded in July. On a monthly basis, grocery prices were down 0.4 per cent.
Two of the Bank of Canada's three closely watched core measures of underlying inflation posted
gains. CPI-median edged up to 4.1 per cent from 3.9 per cent in July, while CPI-trim rose to 3.9
per cent from 3.6 per cent.
The central bank flagged earlier in September that inflation would be higher in the near term due
to recent increases in gasoline prices.
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadas-inflation-rate-accelerates-again-jumping-4-per-cent-august-
123413515.html
Additional links and sources
Food inflat
ion and costs – https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/food-prices-heres-how-much-grocery-
costs-went-up-in-august-130438095.html
T
rucking - https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/diesel-supply-strains-deepen-while-132208304.html
Construct
ion costs - https://www
.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-council-construct
ion-
costs-1.6970469