Inflation watch: more Canadian businesses expect to raise prices

A lot of things are going to get even more expensive.

Nearly two-fifths or 39 percent of businesses in Canada say they plan to increase their prices.

This was revealed from the results of the April to early May 2022 survey conducted by Statistics Canada on business conditions.

The survey collects information about the business environment and expectations moving forward.

“When asked about their expectations over the next three months, nearly two-fifths (39.0%) of businesses expected to raise prices,” Statistics Canada stated in a report Monday (May 30).

The agency went on to note that this represents a “continued increase from just over one-quarter (25.9%) of businesses that expected to do so in the fourth quarter of 2021, and over the one-third (35.7%) of businesses that expected to do so in the first quarter of 2022”.

“Over half of businesses in manufacturing (60.3%), retail trade (56.6%), accommodation and food services (54.0%), construction (52.6%), and wholesale trade (52.4%) expected to raise prices over the next three months.”

Moreover, Canadian businesses “continued to expect to face a variety of obstacles over the next three months…related to rising costs, hiring and recruitment, as well as those related to supply chains”.

“Many businesses that were facing challenges maintaining inventory levels or acquiring inputs, products and supplies, either domestically or abroad, expected these challenges to worsen in the short term,” Statistics Canada noted.

The survey results were released amid raging inflation or increases in prices in the country.

The consumer price index or CPI rose 6.8 percent year-over-year in April 2022.

This followed a 6.7 percent rise in inflation in March.

“The CPI rose 3.4% on an annual average basis in 2021, following an increase of 0.7% in 2020,” Statistics Canada related.