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There’s growing public debate about corporate profits – how much is too much? During the pandemic, large corporations made record gains while households and smaller businesses struggled. And as inflation surges, corporate profit-seeking is contributing to the upsurge in prices.

As the Bank of Canada increases interest rates to bring inflation back down, it’s encouraging governments to ensure that that their spending doesn’t make inflation worse. Sometimes governments will use this as an excuse to keep wages low for workers, or to avoid making much needed investments in public services.

Housing prices, already high across Canada, skyrocketed during the pandemic. Prices rose by more than 30% between the end of 2019 and the end of 2021.

Canada has a shortage of purpose-built rentals that are affordable for working people. Housing is increasingly out of reach for minimum-wage workers and people who rely on social assistance. Inflation and higher interest rates will only make things worse.

Inflation in 2022 is much higher than expected. This is due to the war in Ukraine, climate impacts on food production, and ongoing supply chain issues. We have data for four months of 2022 and a good understanding of the immediate trends in prices. This means inflation forecasts for 2022 are more reliable now than they were in January.

When the pandemic began, Canada was hit with a wave of job losses. The labour market recovered these jobs by the end of 2021. Very quickly, however, economists who had been concerned about pandemic-related unemployment started to raise concerns about the opposite problem – labour shortages.

The Labour Force Survey, carried out monthly by Statistics Canada, recently expanded the demographic data they collect to improve our understanding of employment equity, and specifically to address gaps for Black and racialized workers.