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STATISTICS CANADA April 20, 2015 1:34 pm People in Vancouver and Toronto least satisfied with their lives: StatsCan Man under umbrella in Vancouver Vancouverites report being less satisfied with their lives than residents of other Canadian cities, according to Statistics Canada. Maybe it's the rain? Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press Residents of Vancouver and Toronto report being less satisfied with their lives than people in other Canadian metropolitan areas, according to a new study published by Statistics Canada. Researchers asked the residents of various census metropolitan areas to rank their overall life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 was “very dissatisfied” and 10 was “very satisfied.” In Vancouver, the average score was 7.808, followed closely by Toronto at 7.818. People living in Canada’s most-satisfied metropolitan area, Saguenay, gave an average score of 8.245 out of 10. The differences are larger when you look at the percentage of people who rate their life satisfaction as a 9 or 10 out of 10. In Sudbury, 44.9 per cent of residents ranked their overall life satisfaction that high. In Vancouver, it was only 33.6 per cent. When it comes to people who were comparatively unsatisfied with their lives – giving themselves a score of only 6 or less, there are again significant differences between cities. 17.1 per cent of people in Windsor, Toronto and Abbotsford-Mission ranked their life satisfaction at a 6 or less. Only 8.6 per cent of people in Saguenay gave themselves such a low score. To figure out what accounts for the differences, researchers tested various hypotheses. They found that people who are married or are in good health tend to rank their life satisfaction much higher than others. Unemployed people are more likely to have low satisfaction, and richer people higher satisfaction. However, the report states, these personal factors don’t seem to account entirely for the variation across metropolitan areas. The researchers note that smaller communities with a population of less than 250,000 tend to report higher average life satisfaction. Also, when sorted by city size, metropolitan areas in Quebec tend to be at the top of the list: Montrealers are the most satisfied among individuals in Canada’s big cities and most likely to report life satisfaction of 8 or higher, Sherbrooke and Quebec are at the top of the mid-size communities, and Saguenay and Trois-Rivières at the top of the smaller metropolitan areas, according to the study. Although the Statistics Canada researchers don’t definitively say why this is, they point to other research that suggests levels of trust and social connections in local communities have an effect on people’s life satisfaction, as does income relative to one’s neighbours and economic inequality. sent via Tapatalk

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/Number+Quebecers+leaving+province+rise/9360879/story.html BY MARIAN SCOTT, THE GAZETTE JANUARY 7, 2014 8:05 PM A total of 28,439 people moved from Quebec to another province from January to September 2013. In most cases, Quebec’s loss was Ontario’s gain, with two out of three ex-Quebecers moving to Ontario. Photograph by: Peter Redman , National Post MONTREAL - The number of Quebecers heading down the 401 is on the rise, partial statistics for 2013 suggest. Departures from Quebec to other provinces rose to their highest level this century in the first nine months of 2013, according to the Canadian Institute for Identities and Migration. Statistics are not available yet for the final three months of the year. A total of 28,439 people moved from Quebec to another province from January to September 2013 — the highest number of departures for that period in any year since 2000. In most cases, Quebec’s loss was Ontario’s gain, with two out of three ex-Quebecers moving to Ontario, one in four to Alberta and just under one in ten to British Columbia, according to quarterly demographic estimates released by Statistics Canada in December. Quebec had a net loss of 11,887 residents due to interprovincial migration (departures minus arrivals) in the 12 months from October 2012 to September 2013, compared to a loss of 7,700 people in the corresponding period of 2011-12 and a loss of 4,394 in 2010-11. The rise in departures corresponds with the election of the Parti Québécois in September 2012 — but there is no evidence the political situation is a contributing factor, said Jack Jedwab, the institute’s executive vice-president.“It’s too early to say,” he said. “I would argue it’s more about our economy,” Jedwab said. “These numbers have a very recessionary look to them, at a time when we’re not in a recession.” Jedwab said the loss of residents sounds a warning signal. “Significant population losses have a negative effect on our economy,” he said. The rise in out-migration is not related to the divisive debate over the PQ government’s proposed charter of values, Jedwab said, since the departures occurred before the charter was unveiled. A National Assembly committee will commence hearings on the charter Jan. 14. But Jedwab said if the trend continues, the hypothesis that political angst is spurring departures would deserve a second look. “If it persists into the next quarter, we’ve got to start thinking non-economic considerations are at work here,” he said. The PQ government’s focus on identity issues has decreased the comfort level of some members of cultural minorities, particularly the values charter, which proposes to bar all public sector workers from wearing religious garb like the Muslim head scarf, Jewish skullcap or Sikh turban. In September, an Ontario hospital published recruitment ads aimed to capitalize on the controversy. A photo of a female health worker wearing a hijab (head scarf) bore the caption: “We don’t care what’s on your head. We care what’s in it.” Aaron Lazarus, director of communications at Lakeridge Health in Bowmanville, Ont., east of Toronto, said the hospital received several job applications from doctors, nurses and other health professionals from Quebec in response to the ads. But Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Montreal Board of Trade, warned against jumping to the conclusion that the current political climate could be causing people to leave Quebec. “What is worrisome is that we have a net loss of residents every year,” Leblanc said. “People have a tendency to migrate not only to places with better weather, but also to places where the economy is performing better,” he said. Leblanc said that while the recent increase in departures is cause for concern, it is much smaller than the massive exodus of anglophones from Quebec in the 1970s and ’80s. He called on the government to improve the integration of immigrants into the workforce and to lower taxation to retain residents. Statistics Canada’s quarterly demographic estimates showed Alberta — with a population of 4,060,700 in October 2013 — continues to lead the provinces in population growth, adding 137,703 new residents from October 2012 to September 2013, of whom 49,031 moved there from elsewhere in Canada. Ontario (population 13,585,900) had slower population growth, gaining 128,442 new residents from October 2012 to September 2013. Quebec, numbering 8,174,500 residents, added 67,385 new residents from October 2012 to September 2013, with immigration and the natural increase of the population compensating for out-migration. Previous studies have shown that about two-thirds of Quebec residents who move to other provinces are allophones — people whose first language is neither French nor English. mascot@montrealgazette.com

How safe is your métro station? http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montrealers+safe+your+m%C3%A9tro+station/8972463/story.html Quiet stations tend to have more crime per capita Berri-UQÀM, in eastern downtown, recorded 12.5 million boardings in 2009. There were 20.4 crimes per 1 million boardings. Photograph by: Marie-France Coallier , Marie-France Coallier MONTREAL - For the first time, Montrealers can find out which métro stations see the most crimes. Turns out some least-used subway stops have the highest per capita crime rates. The Gazette has obtained station-by-station statistics after Quebec’s access-to-information commission sided with the newspaper in a three-year battle with the Montreal police department. The figures cover 2008 and 2009, as police only revealed partial information for more recent years. Between 2008 and 2009, criminality jumped at 38 of 64 stations patrolled by Montreal police. At 13 of those, the number of criminal infractions more than doubled. The network’s busiest station, Berri-UQÀM — a transfer point served by three métro lines — saw the largest number of crimes. There were 255 crimes in 2009, up from 243 the previous year. In 2009, 18 stations saw at least 10 crimes involving violence or threat of violence (“crimes against the person”), including Berri-UQÀM (59 cases), Lionel-Groulx (33), Sherbrooke (20) and Vendôme, Snowdon and Jean-Talon (17 each). For every station, The Gazette calculated the number of criminal prosecutions per 1 million passengers who entered the network there. Berri-UQÀM, in eastern downtown, recorded 12.5 million boardings in 2009. There were 20.4 crimes per 1 million boardings. But it was Georges-Vanier, in Little Burgundy southwest of downtown, that recorded the most crimes per capita. At that station — the network’s least used with only 742,000 boardings in 2009 — there were 28.3 crimes per 1 million boardings. Georges-Vanier is a reatlively desolate location, especially at night. It’s next to the Ville-Marie Expressway and no buses serve the station. Beaudry and Monk stations are other examples. Both are among the bottom five for boardings but in the Top 5 for per capita crimes. Click for an interactive map showing crimes in the métro. Reading this on a mobile device? Find the link at the end of the story. The figures give only an approximation of station-per-capita crime rates. The STM only maintains statistics for the number of people who pass through turnstiles at individual métro stations. That means ridership figures used in these calculations only give an idea of how busy stations are. Some stations have few people entering but a high number of passengers disembarking. In addition, transfer stations are busier than boarding figures would suggest because passengers there move from one line to another without going through turnstiles. Bylaw infractions, including graffiti and malicious damage to STM property, were also detailed in the 2008-09 statistics. In more than one-quarter of Montreal métro stations, there were at least 10 bylaw infractions in 2009, with Berri-UQÀM (378 incidents), Sherbrooke (76) and Atwater (67) having the most. The figures obtained by The Gazette cover the 64 stations on Montreal Island and Île Ste-Hélène. Laval and Longueuil stations are patrolled by their respective police forces. Every year, Montreal police publish crime statistics for the entire métro network, but the force has resisted providing more detailed data. After failing to convince the access commission that the data should be kept secret (see sidebar), police recently provided The Gazette with the number of crimes and bylaw infractions at every station in 2008 and 2009. But when the newspaper subsequently requested 2010, 2011 and 2012 statistics, the department did not provide comparable data. Instead, it lumped incidents such as lost objects and calls for ambulances with crimes and bylaw infractions, rendering the 2010-12 statistics almost meaningless. The Gazette is appealing the police department's decision to keep the 2010-12 crime figures under wraps. Police and the STM say Montreal has a very low subway crime rate compared with other cities. Crimes in the métro are relatively rare and the métro's overall crime rate has dropped significantly between 2008 and 2012. Montreal police started patrolling the network in 2007. Before that, STM officers were in charge of security in the métro system. The Gazette sought the station-by-station figures so it could tell readers at which station passengers are the most likely to become the victim of a crime or to witness crimes or bylaw infractions. Making the data public also allows the public to monitor progress in reducing incidents at particular stations. ariga@montrealgazette.com Twitter: andyriga Facebook: AndyRigaMontreal © Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Quebec+highest+acquittal+rate+Country/3338332/story.html#ixzz0v6w8XDYg Wow, this is not good.

Pay what you want in this Montreal restaurant PETER MCCABE FOR THE TORONTO STAR Crescent St. tavern hard hit by drop in business tries something new Feb 25, 2009 04:30 AM Andrew Chung QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF MONTREAL – Already stung by a slide in American tourists and a deepening financial mess that's keeping business customers away, the Taverne Crescent, situated on one of Montreal's historic party streets, decided to implement a new policy: Pay what you can. So yesterday, lunch-hour customers were given the choice of an appetizer, plus either tagliatelle bolognese, salmon or braised beef, and coffee or tea, for whatever they wanted to pay. For a dollar even. Or nothing. "Some people might pay nothing," said owner George Pappas, "but maybe when they have more money in three or six months, they'll come back and pay more." Desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems. Pappas's actions, though gimmicky, illustrate the darkening picture for all those attached to the tourism industry in the province. Despite the proximity of major Canadian cities like Montreal to the border, the number of American tourists coming into Canada by car – still the vast majority compared to other means of transport – reached a record low last year, data from Statistics Canada show. There were nearly 10 million of those trips in 2001. Last year, just 7.4 million. It wasn't even that bad during the last two recessions, including the oil shock of the 1970s. Meanwhile, Americans are taking 1.3 million fewer trips to Quebec compared to 2001. That number, which includes same-day trips, is off by nearly half Canada-wide. "It's astounding," said Statistics Canada analyst Paul Durk, "these are very big drops." There are a number of reasons why the Americans are staying away. New border security requirements, the perception of long border wait times, and even cross-border shopping may be less attractive for aging baby boomers, Durk suggested. Overall, there is a growing fear for the coming year, particularly since the recession has gone global. Already, there has been a sharp decrease in tourism from Britain and soon the rest of Europe will follow. "It will affect big cities the most," said Pierre Bellerose, vice-president of Tourism Montreal. "The cities get more international clients." In the last few years, the American malaise has been offset by increases in tourism from Europe and Mexico. And Montreal's hotels were saved last year by a strong convention calendar. But this year will be different. Bellerose said they're expecting the tourism sector to decline 2 to 3 per cent overall. Quebec's government has stepped in. On Sunday, Tourism Minister Nicole Ménard announced she's giving $4.2 million in financial help to certain businesses and groups, such as Aventure Écotourisme Québec, to try to pump up the tourist volume, and, a spokesperson said, to get past the economic crisis. It won't be easy. The horizon is bleak. Last year, there were 336 restaurant bankruptcies, the Association des restaurateurs du Québec reports – a 20 per cent increase from the year prior. Pappas, who also owns a nightclub in Montreal, describes having to cut staff in response to the American tourist decline. And until his bright idea to "pay what you can," his Taverne Crescent was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays because it was losing money. With no Formula One Grand Prix in Montreal this summer, he said, "It's going to be worse!" http://www.thestar.com/article/592677#Comments

Le Royaume-Uni est entré en récession pour la première fois depuis 1991 au deuxième semestre, selon la UK Statistics Authority. Pour en lire plus...

Immigrants' children more likely to graduate from university Statistics Canada's new study. Close-knit South American family has played major role in her success, student says SHANNON PROUDFOOT, Canwest News Service Published: 8 hours ago The odds of celebrating a university graduation vary widely for young adults in Canada, largely depending on where their parents were born, according to a new study from Statistics Canada. The children of immigrants are more likely to toss a graduation cap in the air than their peers with Canadian-born parents. However, the children of Chinese immigrants are almost three times more likely to graduate from university than those of Latin American immigrants, the report finds, at 70 per cent compared to 24 per cent. By comparison, about 28 per cent of the children of Canadian-born parents get university degrees. Children of Indian parents and those from other Asian countries and Africa have graduation rates above 50 per cent, while about 25 per cent of children with parents from European countries like Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands get degrees. "The children of almost all immigrant groups have either similar or higher university completion rates than the children of Canadian-born parents," says Teresa Abada, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Western Ontario who conducted the study for Statistics Canada. Some of this can be explained by the fact immigrant parents are more likely to have university educations themselves and to live in big cities, she said, and those characteristics are associated with higher university graduation rates for their children. But even taking those factors into account, the children of immigrants - especially those from China or India - still fare better than others in education, Abada said. The scope of this study didn't allow researchers to discover why this might be, but similar research in the U.S. "suggests a sense of obligation to one's parents to do well academically" is at work, she said. University of Calgary students' union president Dalmy Baez says her close-knit South American family has played a major role in her success at school, whether it was 2 a.m. trips to photocopy campaign posters or cheering from the sidelines at debates and sporting events. Her Chilean mother and Paraguayan father met in Montreal after both immigrated to Canada and later moved to Calgary to raise Baez, 21, and her three siblings. Two of the Baez children attended university and two didn't, she said, though all have enjoyed success in their own fields. "I wasn't really sure if I was going to go to university," she said. "The second I started showing interest in school and subjects, they both became incredibly supportive and encouraging." Baez expects to graduate with a degree in political science and a minor in communications this spring and says she'll likely pursue a career in politics afterward. She and her siblings share a house in Calgary that they bought with their parents' help and now pay the mortgage on. A shortage of funds for post-secondary school can be a major barrier for the children of immigrants, Baez said, but for her parents it was crucial that their children get the most out of the life they built in Canada. "Our parents wanted us to take advantage of the opportunities we had here and they certainly weren't going to let us get away with not," she said.

Small-town life looking good to boomers Statistics Canada report; Montreal Island is bleeding population to outlying regions, new studies show David Johnston, The Gazette Published: 2 hours ago The Montreal metropolitan region, once a magnet for people from the rest of Quebec, is now losing more people to the outlying regions than it is gaining, Statistics Canada reported yesterday. Leading the way in this U-turn in the province's demographic history is the restless pitter-patter of retiring baby boomers in the Montreal region. Many are cashing out of the local real estate market and buying cheaper properties in outlying towns, or simply moving back to their home towns in the regions. Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are seeing some of the same boomer-fuelled trends. In Quebec, the chief beneficiaries have been Joliette and St. Jean sur Richelieu, both situated a short hop outside the Montreal metropolitan region. The two towns ranked among the 10 fastest-growing medium-sized towns in Canada from 2001 to 2006, according to a Statistics Canada analysis of 2006 census data made public yesterday. "All of our own studies confirm what Statistics Canada is saying," Daniel Desroches, town manager of St. Jean, said in an interview yesterday. Overall, the metropolitan region registered a net loss of 29,195 people to other regions of Quebec from 2001 to 2006. This loss represents the birth of a new trend. The Montreal region had registered an overall gain in intra-provincial migration from 1996 to 2001, although relatively minor, as well as major gains in the decades before that. Despite the losses from 2001 to 2006, immigration, or international migration, has more than compensated for the region's internal population losses to the rest of Quebec and Canada. "What we can say is that most of those people leaving for the rest of Quebec are moving to smaller towns - not larger cities like Quebec City and Sherbrooke that have their own census metropolitan areas," said Patrice Dion, an analyst in the demography division of StatsCan. Some towns that had relatively minor population gains from 2001 to 2006 have since begun to show signs of a vigorous new construction boom, real estate experts say. Lachute, for example, 80 kilometres northwest of Montreal, has awarded $19 million in new housing construction permits this year, double last year's total at this time, which was double the comparable total for the first six months of 2006. The StatsCan study made public yesterday also confirmed previous studies showing a slowdown in the so-called exodus of Quebecers to other provinces. The inter-provincial losses from 2001-06 were the lowest recorded in any five-year census period since 1971-76, Dion said. From 2001 to 2006, Quebec lost only 8,000 anglophones to other provinces - fewer than 2,000 a year, compared with up to 50,000 a year in the late 1970s. But as a StatCan study made public last December showed, new influxes of anglophones into Quebec from other countries between 2001 and 2006 slightly outnumbered the 8,000 losses, meaning English Quebec is growing today for the first time since the early 1970s. StatsCan also examined population movement within the Montreal metropolitan region. It looked at all the household moves from one municipality in the region to another and found clear winners and losers. The city of Montreal was a heavy loser, mainly to off-island suburbs. But Boisbriand, St. Joseph du Lac and Pointe Calumet, all off-island suburbs, were also big losers. The only town on Montreal Island with a net gain of population from other parts of the region was Ste. Anne de Bellevue. Beaconsfield and Dollard des Ormeaux suffered mild losses, as did Westmount and Montreal East. Off-island suburbs Longueuil, Oka and Ste. Anne des Plaines also suffered slight net losses. The one bright spot for the region was its net gain of 12,795 people in the 15-to-29 age group. These gains came from both the rest of Quebec and the rest of Canada. They reflect continuing poor job prospects in some outlying Quebec regions for young people as well as strong interest nationally in Montreal as a city for post-secondary studies, Dion said. djohnston@thegazette.canwest.com - - - montrealgazette.com - - - Not-So-Small Towns Small and medium-sized urban centres experienced significant population growth from 2001 to 2006, figures from the 2006 census show. Here are the urban centres that experienced the biggest gains from population shifts within Canada: City Province 1. Okotoks Alta. 2. Parksville B.C. 3. Grande Prairie Alta. 4. Wood Buffalo Alta. 5. Chilliwack B.C. 6. Vernon B.C. 7. Joliette Que. 8. Red Deer Alta. 9. St. Jean sur Richelieu Que. 10. Courtenay B.C. Other centres in Quebec in the Top 50 23. Drummondville 30. Granby 32. St. Georges (Beauce) 37. Sorel-Tracy 38. Victoriaville 44. Cowansville 49. Rivière du Loup 50. St. Hyacinthe source: statistics Canada

Small-town life looking good to boomers Statistics Canada report; Montreal Island is bleeding population to outlying regions, new studies show David Johnston, The Gazette Published: 2 hours ago The Montreal metropolitan region, once a magnet for people from the rest of Quebec, is now losing more people to the outlying regions than it is gaining, Statistics Canada reported yesterday. Leading the way in this U-turn in the province's demographic history is the restless pitter-patter of retiring baby boomers in the Montreal region. Many are cashing out of the local real estate market and buying cheaper properties in outlying towns, or simply moving back to their home towns in the regions. Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are seeing some of the same boomer-fuelled trends. In Quebec, the chief beneficiaries have been Joliette and St. Jean sur Richelieu, both situated a short hop outside the Montreal metropolitan region. The two towns ranked among the 10 fastest-growing medium-sized towns in Canada from 2001 to 2006, according to a Statistics Canada analysis of 2006 census data made public yesterday. "All of our own studies confirm what Statistics Canada is saying," Daniel Desroches, town manager of St. Jean, said in an interview yesterday. Overall, the metropolitan region registered a net loss of 29,195 people to other regions of Quebec from 2001 to 2006. This loss represents the birth of a new trend. The Montreal region had registered an overall gain in intra-provincial migration from 1996 to 2001, although relatively minor, as well as major gains in the decades before that. Despite the losses from 2001 to 2006, immigration, or international migration, has more than compensated for the region's internal population losses to the rest of Quebec and Canada. "What we can say is that most of those people leaving for the rest of Quebec are moving to smaller towns - not larger cities like Quebec City and Sherbrooke that have their own census metropolitan areas," said Patrice Dion, an analyst in the demography division of StatsCan. Some towns that had relatively minor population gains from 2001 to 2006 have since begun to show signs of a vigorous new construction boom, real estate experts say. Lachute, for example, 80 kilometres northwest of Montreal, has awarded $19 million in new housing construction permits this year, double last year's total at this time, which was double the comparable total for the first six months of 2006. The StatsCan study made public yesterday also confirmed previous studies showing a slowdown in the so-called exodus of Quebecers to other provinces. The inter-provincial losses from 2001-06 were the lowest recorded in any five-year census period since 1971-76, Dion said. From 2001 to 2006, Quebec lost only 8,000 anglophones to other provinces - fewer than 2,000 a year, compared with up to 50,000 a year in the late 1970s. But as a StatCan study made public last December showed, new influxes of anglophones into Quebec from other countries between 2001 and 2006 slightly outnumbered the 8,000 losses, meaning English Quebec is growing today for the first time since the early 1970s. StatsCan also examined population movement within the Montreal metropolitan region. It looked at all the household moves from one municipality in the region to another and found clear winners and losers. The city of Montreal was a heavy loser, mainly to off-island suburbs. But Boisbriand, St. Joseph du Lac and Pointe Calumet, all off-island suburbs, were also big losers. The only town on Montreal Island with a net gain of population from other parts of the region was Ste. Anne de Bellevue. Beaconsfield and Dollard des Ormeaux suffered mild losses, as did Westmount and Montreal East. Off-island suburbs Longueuil, Oka and Ste. Anne des Plaines also suffered slight net losses. The one bright spot for the region was its net gain of 12,795 people in the 15-to-29 age group. These gains came from both the rest of Quebec and the rest of Canada. They reflect continuing poor job prospects in some outlying Quebec regions for young people as well as strong interest nationally in Montreal as a city for post-secondary studies, Dion said. djohnston@thegazette.canwest.com - - - montrealgazette.com - - - Not-So-Small Towns Small and medium-sized urban centres experienced significant population growth from 2001 to 2006, figures from the 2006 census show. Here are the urban centres that experienced the biggest gains from population shifts within Canada: City Province 1. Okotoks Alta. 2. Parksville B.C. 3. Grande Prairie Alta. 4. Wood Buffalo Alta. 5. Chilliwack B.C. 6. Vernon B.C. 7. Joliette Que. 8. Red Deer Alta. 9. St. Jean sur Richelieu Que. 10. Courtenay B.C. Other centres in Quebec in the Top 50 23. Drummondville 30. Granby 32. St. Georges (Beauce) 37. Sorel-Tracy 38. Victoriaville 44. Cowansville 49. Rivière du Loup 50. St. Hyacinthe source: statistics Canada

Canada's inflation rate jumps to 3.1 per cent Canwest News Service Published: 1 hour ago OTTAWA - The annual rate of inflation in Canada jumped to 3.1 per cent in June, the biggest rise in almost three year years, fuelled by soaring gasoline prices, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Most economists had expected an overall inflation rate last month of 2.9 per cent from a year early, compared with a year-on-year increase of 2.2 per cent in May. "Gasoline prices increased 26.9 per cent between June 2007 and June 2008, significantly higher than the 15 per cent advance posted in May," the federal agency said. "June's increase was the largest since the 34.7 per cent gain reported for September 2005, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted the oil market," it said. "June's increase reflected both recent increases in pump prices, as well as the fact that gasoline prices had been on the decline in June 2007." On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.7 per cent in June from May. "In addition to gasoline prices, mortgage interest cost, bakery products and air transportation also exerted strong upward pressure on the consumer price index in June," Statistics Canada said. Prince Edward Island and Alberta posted the biggest gains in consumer prices, rises 4.7 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, the core rate - which strips out volatile items, such as energy and food, and is used by the Bank of Canada to gauge inflation - rose by 1.5 per cent in June, the same rate as the previous month. On Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales rose by a less than expected 0.4 per cent in May, with virtually all of the increase due to higher prices, especially for gasoline. However, Canadian consumers - thanks to the strong Canadian dollar - have not been as hard hit by rising prices for food and fuel. As well, pump prices have fluctuated over the past few months from the $1.20 range upwards to nearly $1.50 a litre, driving down consumption. The Bank of Canada's target for inflation is between one and three per cent, although it expects the rate to peak at 4.3 per cent early in 2009. The central bank has held its key lending rate steady at three per cent for the past two months after a series of reductions in an effort to spur spending amid an economic slowdown. However, the bank has signalled it is now balancing the need to encourage growth without fuelling inflation. "The sting of the steep pick-up in headline inflation is lessened by the fact that the Bank of Canada was already so public in calling for an eventual peak of more than four per cent by the turn of the year," said BMO Capital Markets economist Douglas Porter. "A further correction in energy prices (on top of the $20 drop in crude oil in the past two weeks) would go a long way to further dampening concerns about lofty headline inflation readings," he said. "With core holding steady at 1.5 per cent in June, right around where the bank looks for it to average in Q3, there's really not much to chew on here from a monetary policy stance." The Canadian dollar trading around 99 cents US following the inflation report, little changed from its Tuesday close of 99.16 cents US. Percentage change (May to June / June 2007 to June 2008): All-items +0.7 / +3.1 Food +1 / +2.8 Shelter +0.6 /+4.7 Household operations and furnishings 0.0 / +1.3 Clothing and footwear -0.5 / -0.6 Transportation +1.8 / +5.5 Health and personal care +0.1 / +0.7 Recreation, education and reading 0.0 / +0.4 Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products +0.2 / +1.6 Goods +1.1 / +2.5 Services +0.3 / +3.7 All-items excluding food and energy 0.0 / +1.2 Energy +4.4 / +18 Source: Statistics Canada Percentage change (May to June / June 2007 to June 2008): Newfoundland and Labrador +0.8 / +3.1 Prince Edward Island +0.5 / +4.7 Nova Scotia +0.6 / +4.2 New Brunswick +0.5 / +2.1 Quebec +0.4 / +3.1 Ontario +0.5 / +2.8 Manitoba +0.8 / +2.4 Saskatchewan +0.7 / +3.4 Alberta +1.5 / +4.4 British Columbia +0.7 / +3 Whitehorse +0.9 / +4.5 Yellowknife +0.8 / +4.5 Iqaluit +0.6 / +2.3 Source: Statistics Canada http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=8187d0e4-0761-4d7e-a550-ad9f55369ca1