Diesel prices driving up holiday shipping costs
It's unwelcome news for Canadians as the holidays approach: there's yet another thing driving inflation this year.
The price of diesel is continuing its sharp climb after inventory issues in the summer and autumn, and that'll mean shipping and transport will cost consumers more.
"If the price of diesel is extremely high -- which we are seeing right now -- our cost of living is going to increase even more," Vijay Muralidharan with R Cube Economic Consulting said. "All of the goods and services that we need are transported through trucks, which run on diesel."
It has already started.
Canada Post just increased its domestic parcel surcharge to 37 per cent, up six points from the summer. It cites the rising rate of diesel.
"The cost of shipping generally is continuing to increase and that's a cost that is a huge burden to small business owners," Madame Premier owner Sarah Elder-Chamanara told CTV News. "I have flat (shipping rates for customers and) 99 per cent of the time I end up subsidizing the cost of shipping."
And though it won't -- for now -- in Elder-Chamanara's store, that cost increase is largely bleeding down to consumers.
DIESEL DEMAND
After years of low demand, the commodity is once again a hot ticket item. And with fewer refineries and booming European need, inventory is low and the cost of what diesel is available is heading in one direction.
All the holiday shopping won't help.
"If economic activity is extremely high, diesel demand is extremely high," Muralidharan said. "The one way it might change for the positive is if demand slows, which should eventually happen due to high interest (rates)."
The Bank of Canada's recent rate hikes will lower spending and eventually affect the high prices, but the general consensus is it'll take at least half a year for that to happen.
Muralidharan predicts Alberta could see diesel climb as high as $2.40 a litre later this winter.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977053.1721909931!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
LIVE UPDATES 'Hopefully it's better than what we're thinking': Jasper wildfire damage details anxiously awaited
Officials are waiting to learn Thursday morning the extent of wildfire damage in the Jasper townsite of Jasper National Park, which flames began to eat away at the night before.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500 million to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'