'A survival game': How the cost of living has changed since the 2021 federal election

Rachel Chiasson, 36, recently settled into an apartment in Edmonton's Cromdale neighbourhood, ending a nearly two-year endeavour that included a period of precarious living situations.

She was renovicted from her Calgary apartment in May 2023. The management company gave her eight months' notice, Chiasson said, but she had to uproot her life because she couldn't find anywhere else nearby to live.

Chiasson, a licensed practical nurse, tried moving to Edmonton, but again struggled to find housing, she said.

She, her German Shepherd and two cats lived in her car for two weeks, then a motel for one month, before finding a place in Redwater, Alta. She commuted about 60 kilometres to and from Edmonton for work, until she finally found her new apartment in the city.

"[Inflation has] affected me immensely," said Chiasson, who's originally from Halifax. "I was homeless — and I know lots of other people are facing this on the daily. There have been times when I've not had much money to even just eat.

"It was hard for me mentally, physically, financially … and I was still working during that time," she said.

The steep, years-long rising cost of living is still a top federal election issue, especially amid the U.S. trade war.

Using Statistics Canada's monthly consumer price index (CPI) data, which measures inflation on goods and services, CBC News calculated Alberta's inflation rate since the last federal election in September 2021.

Overall, prices grew by about 13.7 per cent as of February, the latest month for which data is available. The national rate was nearing 14.1 per cent, data shows.

But inflation is not uniform, as markets differ for things like food, gas, rent and streaming service subscriptions.

At the grocery store, for example, coffee and tea are almost 40 per cent more expensive, while eggs cost 25 per cent more, data shows. But reading materials — including books, newspapers and magazines — are five per cent cheaper.

"This is substantial inflation," said Beyza Ural Marchand, a University of Alberta economics professor.

Ural Marchand is currently researching how the recent inflation has impacted Canadians, but could not yet divulge any of her findings. Her previous research, however, has found that lower-income households tend to be hit harder by inflation.

Poorer households may consume about the same as higher-income households, but a larger share of their budget is dedicated to necessities, she said. If prices of essential products rise, they have less money to spend on other things, whereas wealthier households have more wiggle room.