Rachel Chiass, 36, recently settled in an apartment in the Edmonton Cromdale neighborhood, ending an almost two -year effort that included a period of precarious life situations.
She was renewed from her Calgary apartment in May 2023. The management company gave her an eight -month notice, said Chiass, but she had to uproot her life because she could not find any other close place to live.
Chiasson, a licensed practice, tried to move to Edmonton, but again had problems finding housing, he said.
She, her German shepherd and two cats lived in her car for two weeks, then a motel for a month, before finding a place in Redwater, Alta. He contributed about 60 kilometers to and from Edmonton for work, until he finally found his new apartment in the city.
“[Inflation has] It affected me immensely, “said Chiass, who is originally from Halifax.” I was homeless, and I know that many other people face this daily. There have been times when I have not had much money to even eat.
“It was difficult for me mentally, physically, financially … and I was still working during that time,” he said.
The steep cost of living of the years of life remains a higher federal electoral issue, especially in the midst of the United States commercial war.
Using the monthly data of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Statistics Canada, which measures inflation in goods and services, CBC News calculated Alberta inflation rate since the last federal elections in September 2021.
In general, prices grew by approximately 13.7 percent as of February, the last month for which there are data available. The national rate was about 14.1 percent, depending on the data.
But inflation is not uniform, since markets differ for things such as food, gas, rent and subscriptions of transmission services.
In the grocery store, for example, coffee and tea are almost 40 percent more expensive, while eggs cost 25 percent more, according to data. But reading materials, including books, newspapers and magazines, are five percent cheaper.
“This is substantial inflation,” said Beyza Ural Marchand, Economics professor at the University of Alberta.
Ural Marchand is currently investigating how recent inflation has impacted Canadians, but he couldn’t disseminate any of his findings. However, his previous research has found that low -income households tend to be more affected by inflation.
The poorest households can consume almost the same as the households of higher income, but a majority of their budget is dedicated to the needs, he said. If the prices of essential products increase, they have less money to spend on other things, while the richest households have more maneuvering margin.
Several people told CBC News how their wallets and bags have been pressed from the 2021 elections. Some, such as Chiass, have experienced the lack of housing.
Homeward Trust, an Edmonton agency dedicated to improving the lack of housing, estimated that more than 2,900 people in Edmonton experienced homeless people in 2023, an increase of approximately 1,100 since 2021, when it estimated that approximately 1,800 people experienced homeless people, municipal data shows.
The data set lists inflation as a contributing factor.
“Something has to give,” said Belinda King, 63. He was homeless in Edmonton for 10 months, much of which were spent on a women’s shelter.
“I had no addictions,” he said. “I found myself homeless because the price of everything is going up, and salaries and income do not go up. I never chose to be homeless.”
King, who now lives in an apartment in the Dickinsfield area on the northern side of the city, told him that he can be on the street again.
He underwent knee replacements and has not recovered enough to return to work, he said. Meanwhile, it is scraping its CPP and AISH payments, the last of which could be reduced.
The six main federal parties, conservatives, liberals, the PND, the Québécois block, the Green Party and the Popular Party of Canada (PPC), promised initiatives to address the highest cost of living, if they form the government after the elections on April 28.
The measures mainly include tax exemptions and changes in social programs that aim to help Canadians maintain more money in their pockets.
The parties have also detailed how each one plans to increase the supply of housing, affordable units and in another way, and some measures that would seek to buy a house is easier for Canadians.
The United States trade war, however, could aggravate the problem of affordability.
The United States government imposed tariffs on Canadian imports that do not comply with the Mexico (Cusma) agreement of Canada and Canada, the free trade agreement among American neighbors: 10 percent in potassa and energy products and 25 percent in everything else.
But the United States recently made exceptions for Canadian steel, aluminum and cars. These goods are receiving an additional 25 percent tax, regardless of compliance.
Canadian companies affected by tariffs may have to fire workers. Retail companies could absorb higher costs or try to recover those costs by increasing consumer prices.
Ural Marchand hopes that retailers, grocery stores in particular, increase prices, he said, and pointed out that they have done so in other recent moments of high inflation, such as when the war in Ukraine affected supply chains.
“Since they did not absorb the previous clashes, it seems unlikely,” said Ural Marchand.
“Everyone led to these corporations to obtain even greater, no lower profits.”
The steep cost of living of the years of life remains a higher federal electoral issue, especially in the midst of the United States commercial war. A CBC news analysis found that Alberta’s inflation rate from the 2021 elections is almost 14 percent. Nicholas Frew shares how people have been affected.
Federal and provincial governments have promulgated against US tariffs. Federal political parties have also made promises related to the rate, some of which focus on helping workers dismissed from the affected sectors.
Meanwhile, Lorefil Toledo, a single mother who has a cleaning company in Edmonton, is only trying to survive.
At work, he is browsing higher prices for supplies and a los perdeker that opts for cheaper services, said Toledo, 37. He has fired staff and hired his two teenagers to help on weekends.
Meanwhile, you also have to make sure you bring enough money to feed your children, he said.
“It’s a survival game,” he said.
Toledo, who received the Canadian citizenship last year after emigrating from the Philippines, will vote for the first time, he said.
He is still investigating with which candidate he aligns more, but the economy is his main problem, he said.
