The Opposition Conservatives say they plan to recommend a change in how home prices are captured in headline inflation figures, arguing the current readings underestimate the impact.
The party's finance critic says there are options the country could consider to better reflect house price inflation in the consumer price index.
Pierre Poilievre says he hasn't settled on one option, but promises the Tories will suggest a path forward when the House of Commons finance committee wraps its study on inflation.
BREAKING: Inflation rises again to 4.8%, the highest in over 3 decades. And, because the consumer price index does not account for house prices, it doesn’t even account for the 26% housing inflation.#JustinFlation
— pierrepoilievre (@PierrePoilievre) January 19, 2022
The committee is set to meet Friday and hear from the head of the federal housing agency and the superintendent of financial institutions, whose office regulates the country's banks.
But first, Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen hosts a meeting of his provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss ways to ease affordability issues.
Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that homeowner replacement costs, which most closely match new home prices, was up 13.6 per cent year-over-year in December to continue a streak of double-digit increases that began in May.
