Nearly two fifths (39.0%) of Canadian businesses expect to raise their prices over the next three months according to the findings of the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions (CSBC).
That shows 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.
The move towards higher pricing is led by manufacturing with 60.3 per cent of Canadian manufacturers expecting to raise rates over the next three months. More than a fifth (22.0%) of manufacturers expected their profitability to increase over the same time period.
The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% on an annual average basis in 2021, following an increase of 0.7% in 2020. In April 2022, Canadian consumer prices rose 6.8% year over year following a 6.7% increase in March. This was the largest increase since January 1991 (+6.9%).
The Canadian Survey on Business Conditions is a joint initiative of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Statistics Canada.
