Ep. 621: Real Inflation Feels Worse

Guest: Judith Bosire (chief economist at Vancity)

Do you feel the rate of inflation is higher than the reports you receive from the media? Do increases in prices in the grocery store, at the gas pump, and in the cost of housing continue to outpace the increase in your salary? “The reason it feels that way,” says Judith Bosire, the Chief Economist at Vancity, “is because that is what is happening.”

Bosire continues, “The reported annual inflation rate in British Columbia is 2.8% as of June 2026 but that is in contrast with the ‘lived’ or economic inflation rate where prices are rising faster than the headlines. Food, for example, is up more than 3.5% and transportation is up more than 6.5%.” The difference between the reported and lived is because “indexes average everything out for a representative number,” says Bosire.

Now imagine that you are living below the average – access to housing, transportation, quality of food, climate resistant housing all are beyond reach. “Through our ‘Shared Success’ program, Vancity returns 30% of our profits to members and local communities programs that fill gaps for those in need,” says Bosire.

We invited Judith Bosire, the Chief Economist at Vancity, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about real, up-close, and personal inflation versus the reported average.

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