The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a faster pace in January (+1.0%) year over year than in December (+0.7%). The acceleration in consumer prices was largely due to higher prices for durable goods (+1.7%) and rising gasoline prices (+6.1%) compared with December 2020. Excluding gasoline, the CPI grew 1.3% in January—up from a 1.0% increase in December. Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210217/dq210217a-eng.htm Food COVID19 and Food Prices - https://www.brockpress.com/covid-19-to-cause-increase-in-national-food-prices/ https://www.greenhousecanada.com/funding-call-for-local-food-projects-33051/ - The problem with greenhouses relates to CO2 - https://ggs-greenhouse.com/heating-systems/carbon-dioxide-co2-dosing Average house price in Canada is now $621K - https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/canadian-housing-markets-set-records-again-in-january-820519482.html

1. Cost of Living in
Canada – January
2021
Paul Young CPA CGA
February 18, 2021

2. Paul Young - Bio
• CPA, CGA
• Academia (PF1, FA4 and MS2)
• SME – Risk Management
• SME – Close, Consolidate and Reporting
• SME – Public Policy
• SME – Emerging Technology
• SME – Financial Solutions
• SME – Business Process Change
• SME – Supply Chain Management
Contact information:
Paul_Young_CGA@Hotmail.com

3. Agenda
• Consumer Price Index
• Housing Price Index
• Housing Prices
• Household Debt to Income
• Carbon Taxation
• Broadband Costs
• Food Prices
• Transit (Tax Credits vs Carbon Tax Credit)
• 80% of the Middle Class is paying higher taxes
• Cdns above the average wage
• The wealthiest are paying less of the federal taxes
• Household Spending
• Child Tax Benefit / After Tax income
• Poverty
• Principal Residency / Speculator tax
• Cable and Satellite Pricing Index
• Lumber Prices
• Fuel Prices
• Hydro Rates
• Farmer Prices
• Summary

4. Introduction
• The liberal ran on a platform saying they would make things more
affordable. This presentation discuss key policy changes as part of
people assessing did the Liberals make lives either more affordable
or less affordable

5. Inflation / Canada
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210217/dq210217a-eng.htm

6. Overall Cost of living by major area

7. Housing Price Index
• The avg. house price for Cdns
will rise to 621K in 2021 which
represents a 36% increase since
October 2015 or about 6%
• Inflation is running about 1%
• There is a job quality issue
facing Canadians.
My work -
https://www2.slideshare.net/paulyoun
gcga/real-estatehousing-market-
canada-and-the-united-states-
november-2020

8. Consumer Price Index
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190717/dq190717a-eng.htm or
• The Liberals pushed a carbon tax onto
taxpayers by adding a carbon tax to price
of a liter.
• Inflation on average is about 1.9% which is
consistent with the past 17+ years
• Wage growth has at times not kept pace
with inflation –
• Government does set policies that impact
inflation
• Payroll taxes
• Income tax rates
• Regulations
• Hydro rates
• Carbon tax moving to $170/ton by 2030 -
https://www2.slideshare.net/paulyoungc
ga/truth-carbon-emissions-and-carbon-
taxes-canada
• There are many factors that impact
inflation that are outside of government
control
• Commodity Prices
• Wage increases (Private Sector)

9. Housing Prices Blog – Real Estate – Canada
The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales rose 32.1 per cent
in November compared with the same month last year, matching the
record-breaking year-over-year increase seen in October.
Source - https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/home-sales-shoot-up-32-1-
per-cent-year-over-year-in-november-1.5231941
The national average house price is expected to increase by 9.1
per cent — to $620,400 — in 2021, the Canadian Real Estate
Association (CREA) said today. Source -
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crea-november-sales-
1.5841749
Canadian housing starts rose 14.4% in November compared with
the previous month, beating analyst expectations, on a surge in
multiple urban unit starts, data from the national housing agency
showed on Tuesday.
https://www.reuters.com/article/canada-economy-
housing/canada-housing-starts-jump-in-november-on-multiple-
units-cmhc-idUST5N2H601D
Construction jobs
https://chamberbusinessnews.com/2020/11/24/aging-workforce-
technical-skills-shortage-and-the-importance-of-cte/

10. Household Debt to Income

11. Broadband
This is another reason why @JustinTrudeau does not get it about cell and internet rates. Capital is required to
upgrade and maintain the network.
1. Teksavvy hikes rates - https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/teksavvy-hikes-prices-for-all-residential-
internet-subscribers-and-says-it-may-need-to-do-it-again/429063
2. Cost to expand 5G networks - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/whats-next-for-5g-networks
3. More people working from home - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canadian-telecoms-say-covid-19-causing-
surge-in-demand-for-services-1.1436844
4. Capital Investment - https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/financing/bell-big-cable-networks-ask-
government-to-overrule-crtc-on-wholesale-rates-242328/
5. Rogers - https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rogers-earnings-1.1377765 “The Toronto-based company -- owner of one of
Canada's biggest wireless and internet businesses -- issued 2020 guidance that includes an estimate of between $2.7 billion
and $2.9 billion of capital expenditures this year. But that is assuming there is no negative changes to the regulatory
environment. "If the regulatory rules change, we will cut our investment. We will have no choice," Rogers chief executive
Joe Natale said in an interview.”

12. Food Prices
• COVID19 and Food Prices - https://globalnews.ca/news/6880414/supply-
chain-food-shortage-coronavirus/
• Food prices soaring despite deflation -
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/consumer-prices-canada-
deflation_ca_5ec52a37c5b6e47da9edbdaf
• Failure to protect farmers and supply chain -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/agriculture-and-food-policy-
what-needs-to-happen

13. Household Costs / Carbon Pricing CAN environmental ranking has dropped one position under
your watch
No where do you mentioned either the dumping of sewage into
waterways or the impact of cruise ships.
No where do you mentioned that carbon tax hurts family
$1K+/yr (ex-tax credit)
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-
environment-climate-change-issues-and-concerns-canada-
september-2019
@cathmckenna
You allow sewage into waterways
Cruise ship have emissions issues
Oil is going by rail
Canada already taxed pollution way before your carbon tax
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-
environment-climate-change-issues-and-concerns-canada-
september-2019

14. Tax Impact I like to know @justintrudeau why he
thinks carbon tax refund $300 is better
than the transit tax credit ($400-675)
under Harper.
You would think the transit tax credit
encourage people to use transit which it
did when you look at ridership
Trudeau said people were no using the
tax credit and/or ridership was not
going up.
http://cutaactu.ca/en/news-
media/latest-news/transit-ridership-
growing-canada “2017 saw a 1.5%
increase in Canadian transit trips
over the previous year, according to
new data released by CUTA. ”
Source - https://globalnews.ca/news/5368001/canada-average-carbon-tax-
rebates/beta/?utm_expid=.kz0UD5JkQOCo6yMqxGqECg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F or https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-

15. Liberals voted against a motion to stop rising cost of fuel and
food
Source - https://www.spencerfernando.com/2018/05/08/trudeau-liberals-vote-against-motion-to-lower-gas-grocery-prices/#respond
http://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/newsalert-statistics-canada-says-cpi-in-march-up-2-3-from-year-ago-2
• Liberals said they would make things
affordable for Canadians -
https://www.liberal.ca/trudeau-unveils-
liberal-platform-for-a-strong-middle-class/
• 80% of Canadians are paying higher
taxes -
https://globalnews.ca/news/3769136/t
axes-middle-class-liberals/
• Carbon Taxes are regressive as they hurt
the low to middle class more in terms of
costs -
https://twitter.com/LindaFrum/status/
989957835692957696
• CPP hikes mean less after tax income
• https://www.slideshare.net/paulyo
ungcga/2019-election-retirement-
payroll-tax-cpp-canada-august-2019
• Jobs in goods producing sector lag
service sector -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungc
ga/2019-election-job-quality-and-
employment-canada-june-2019
Bottom line:
• Trudeau is not making things more affordable!

16. Average Wages / Canada
Pre-COVID19 the liberal’s policies did little to support the goods-
producing sector.
The jobs that pay well are healthcare, education, professional services.
Those jobs require years of education and experience.
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/job-quality-and-labor-market-
analysis-canada-january-2021

17. Wealthiest Who do you trust to more when it comes to taxing
the Top !%
@justinTrudeau who refuses to go after tax havens
and/or loss moneys during his so called tax hike -
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-
high-income-earners-paid-46-billion-less-in-taxes-in-
2016-despite/
@Andrewscheer who was part of a government that
brought in more tax fairness -
https://globalnews.ca/news/1356467/tax-cuts-since-
2005-net-canadians-30b-pbo/
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-
election-top-1-wealthiest-canada-june-2019

18. Wealth Tax
@theJagmeetSingh you want to drive out investment and people, then push a wealth tax. BTW: You may want
to stop wearing 4,000+ suits before you start preaching you are for the little guy
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/are-wealth-tax-a-good-idea
*** Wealth Tax have failed in the past

19. Household Spending
Thomas, low employment means nothing if you do
not look at all aspects, i.e. wages, household costs,
etc. It must be nice to grab articles without looking
at all issues. You do this all the time with your
tweets, why?
https://www2.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/cost-
of-living-canada-december-2020

20. Poverty
• Liberal tout only one policy (Child Tax benefit). The problem is other policies like carbon taxation have had a
large impact on the poor
• Food bank usage continues to be on the rise - http://enfieldweeklypress.com/2019/08/24/food-bank-usage-
at-a-critical-level/
• Low income depend on public transit. Public transit has been impacted by carbon taxation -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/election-2019-transit-canada-june-2019 (Majority of buses and
trains are still supply by diesel

21. Taxation, After Tax Income and Household
Spending

22. Taxing the Rich

23. Canada net worth
Source - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-626-x/11-626-x2019003-eng.htm or https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/canadians-average-net-worth-shrinks-for-first-time-in-a-decade-amid-bank-
of-canada-rate-hikes or https://environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/resources/blogs/ea-blog/2019/09/18/wealthscapes-2019-report-canadians-display-financial-prudence
Harper 2015 Net worth
Trudeau seen the first
drop in net worth in
more than a decade
Turns out that Harper
Policies help with the
net worth for people

24. Blog – Taxation and After Tax
Who would be better for the middle class?
@justintrudeau who increase taxes on the middle class
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/trudeau-government-continues-to-spread-
misinformation-about-middle-class-tax-burden
@andrewscheer who was part of previous governments that led to Canada having one of the
best middle class in the world.
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/opinion-story/9581143-andrew-scheer-in-his-own-
words-young-families-are-the-future-of-our-country-/?fbclid=iwar0tvoaxeqkbsp2ooe-
l7dszpqvetxwpxcfgke5ofmeozh1yrierlxag0ku
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-middle-class-canada-august-2019

25. Speculator Principal Capital Gain Tax
Adam Vaughan tax on principal residency is really call a speculator tax. Here are what people need to know about the speculator
tax:
• There have been many people that buy a condo before it is built. These people put down a down payment. The condo gets
built then these people sell it at the market value. CRA calls these people Condo Flippers “
https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/condo-flippers-beware-the-taxman-is-watching-you-and-has-new-
tools-at-his-disposal-to-take-action
• Starting with 2016 it was mandatory to report your principal residency on your tax return.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-
tax-return/personal-income/line-127-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate/sale-your-principal-residence.html
• Many properties are held for longer period of times as such this speculator tax would not apply to them. However, there is
nothing stopping another government reviewing the capital gain exemption as part of future tax policies.
• This one-off policy will not fix the issues with supply and demand including urban vs rural strategy.
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-rural-areas-and-affairs-canada or
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/urban-planning-issues-facing-urban-planners-april-2019
• This policy will not fix houses that need major repairs. Many people are not doing the maintenance of their houses as such
future owners could be on the hook for housing improvement costs - https://globalnews.ca/news/3766695/homeownership-
costs-canadians-forget/
•
• Here is my presentation on affordable housing - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-who-do-you-trust-
more-to-make-housing-more-affordable

26. Cable and Satellite Pricing

27. Federal Govt
– Fiscal
Management
• GDP growth is 2% on
avg for Trudeau
• Trudeau has no
balance budget

28. GDP per capita
Source – Stats Canada and https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/canada/gdp-per-capita or
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-economic-underperformance-excessive-indebtedness-and-our-constrained-future

29. Lumber Cost
Source - https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/operations/new-record-wood-product-prices-boost-shares-and-estimates-for-canadian-producers-
259279/ or https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/forestry-management-environment-sustainable-practices

30. Fuel Prices
Source - https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/gasoline-prices https://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-
ivison-get-ready-for-the-liberals-secret-new-carbon-tax
New Carbon Tax (Fuel Standard)

31. Hydro Price Index
Hydro Analysis - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201013/dq201013d-eng.htm

32. Aggregate CPI
Source -
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-
quotidien/210217/dq210217a-eng.htm

33. Affordability
• Canada is still struggling with both equality (https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/has-canada-
reduced-gender-equality-issues and poverty (https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/why-has-
poverty-still-exist-around-the-world
• Canada has some highest broadband costs in the world -
https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/12/18/canada-top-five-highest-costs-100mbps-internet/ (Where is the
relief promise by Trudeau)
• Canada needs to re-think its economic and tax policies -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/scorecard-government-and-economic-performance-
november-2015-to-april-2020
• GDP / Canada - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/scorecard-and-gdp-canada-december-
2020-and-november-2020
• Trudeau’s housing reforms have done little for both supply and affordability. More work on policies is
required including urban planning and 3-D housing
• Building codes need to revamp to deal with 3-D housing -
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pikeresearch/2019/11/20/3d-printed-homes-quietly-gain-traction/#74899cc763bd
• All levels government need to look at proper land management - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/why-
do-politicians-play-games-with-the-environment

34. Other Sources
• If you like to learn
more about trade
and/or other
subjects as part of
your professional
learning and
development then
feel free to review
my material on
https://www.udem
y.com/ (search Paul
Young CPA CGA

35. What’s next
• Removing the carbon tax
• All levels of government need to stop looking for ways to tax people
and start fixing issues with the tax code as well as finding better
ways to deliver government -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-fiscally-
responsible-government-canada-september-2019 or
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-tax-
reforms-and-fairness-canada-september-2019
• Fixing policies that will ensure Canada is more competitive when it
comes to attracting FDI -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-canada-
competitivenes-september-2019
• All governments along with the private sector need to fix the
systemic issues with housing -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-housing-
affordability-canada-june-2019
• All levels of government along with private sector need to work
together as part of address the skill gap issues -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2019-election-human-
capital-and-skills-management-canada-september-2019
• Post-Covid19 - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/whats-
next-for-canada-post-covid19
• Fixing issues plaguing the goods-producing sector -
https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/how-to-address-issues-
facing-getting-goods-to-market
• Circular Economy - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/how-
to-best-support-a-circular-economy