Bank of Canada Governor says inflation 'transitory but not short-lived'

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says inflation may be around longer than anticipated.

“I think transitory to economists, means sort of not permanent,” said Macklem in an interview with CTV’s Question Period with Evan Solomon, airing Sunday. “I think to a lot of people, transitory means it's going to be over quickly and maybe I don't know exactly what the right word is, but it's probably something like you know, transitory but not short-lived.”

Canada’s inflation rate currently stands at 4.4 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent in August, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. The central bank expects the inflation rate to near 5 per cent by the end of this year, which remains above its mandate target of 2 per cent.

Canadians have seen that inflation reflected in certain consumer goods such as meat, dairy products, gas and vehicles.

“I do want to assure Canadians that we are going to keep inflation under control,” said Macklem. “And we have the tools, we have the mandate and we will be adjusting our tools to bring inflation back to target.”