This is no surprise to those of us who shop for groceries and fill up our gas tanks regularly.

The latest Statistics Canada report says the annual pace of inflation crept up in April to 6.8 percent over April of 2021.

The inflation rate last month surpasses the annual rate of 6.7 percent in March and is the highest since January of 1991 when the annual rate was 6.9 percent.

The results for April reflect the 9.7 percent more Canadians paid for food bought in stores compared with a year ago, the largest year over year increase in groceries since September of 1981.

Compared with a year ago, the cost of fresh fruit was up 10 percent, fresh vegetables gained 8.2 per cent and meat rose 10.1 per
cent. The cost of bread rose 12.2 per cent, while pasta gained 19.6 percent and rice added 7.4 per cent.

And if you take the rising price for gasoline out of the equation, last month’s annual inflation rate for April was 5.8 percent.