Inflation hits Canadians already struggling with groceries, gas hardest: experts

The pace of inflation hitting a 30-year high is especially painful for Canadians already struggling to get by as they face a limited ability to mitigate higher costs.

A 30-year high in the annual rate of inflation is hitting Canada’s lowest-income families hardest, experts say, as price hikes compound on groceries, essentials and other critical areas for those already struggling to make ends meet.

The consumer price index rose 4.8 per cent in the final month of 2021, the highest rate of increase since 1991, Statistics Canada said last week.

While the agency flagged a slight easing in gas price inflation amid Omicron-related lockdowns at the end of the year, costs were nonetheless up across the board on groceries, housing and passenger vehicles.

Those pain points are hitting residents like Ottawa’s John and Susan Redins particularly hard, as inflation outpaces income they rely on from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

The Redins have been receiving ODSP for more than a decade ever since the car dealership John worked for went bankrupt and he suffered a double-hip collapse in 2010.

The pair gets roughly $800 covered for their rent but receives less than the standard $1,168 monthly check from ODSP because Susan isn’t considered to have a disability, reducing their overall family payouts.

But she’s meanwhile been locked in a two-and-a-half-year court battle to get ODSP to recognize her limitations as well, after her eyes were damaged in a car accident and she had a stroke in the middle of the night during the pandemic.

While she expects a resolution to her case in the months ahead, the end result is the Redins are being supported as a single person with a disability, when in practice they are two.