Manitoba has lowest inflation rate in Canada due to gas tax break: premier
New numbers from Statistics Canada show that Manitoba has the lowest inflation rate in the country, largely due to the gas tax break.
On Tuesday, Premier Wab Kinew announced that the province’s inflation rate was 0.8 per cent in January – down from 1.7 per cent the month before.
Kinew added that Manitoba is the only province with a consumer inflation rate below the Bank of Canada’s target range.
“Today we are also seeing the economy-wide benefits of this step that we have taken in cutting the gas tax,” the premier said at a news conference.
“Our move to cut the provincial gas tax has lowered inflation in Manitoba.”
According to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), the gas tax holiday, which removed the 14-cent provincial tax on gas, contributed to the national decline in inflation. Canada’s annual inflation rate tumbled to 2.9 per cent in January, down from 3.4 per cent in December.
The federal agency also reports that Manitoba’s gas prices fell 20.2 per cent in January 2024 compared to January 2023.
“Manitobans can feel proud that not only are we taking steps to lower costs for your family, but we’re also moving the national economy in a good direction,” Kinew said.
However, not all Manitobans are feeling the relief.
Harvest Manitoba said they helped more than 21,000 households last month – 3,000 more families compared to 2023.
"It's very concerning,” said Meaghan Erbus, network advocacy and education director with Harvest Manitoba. “We're always hoping for that number to trend down. To put it into perspective, that's 50,000 people every single month accessing our services at a food bank somewhere in Manitoba, half of those people or children."
Grocery prices in Manitoba are showing deceleration, dropping from 4.5 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
While that is an improvement, Harvest Manitoba said people are hurting, struggling to buy staple items such as bread, meat and fresh fruit.
"The majority of folks that access our food banks do not drive; they use transit,” Erbus said. “And in fact, they purchase bus tickets over bus passes, because they find that too expensive. So unfortunately, that rebate, that money doesn't trickle down to the folks that are using food banks."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
A slight temperature drop makes Tuesday the world's second-hottest day
Global temperatures dropped a minuscule amount after two days of record highs, making Tuesday only the world's second-hottest day ever.
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.