No Surprise, Owning A Car Cost More In 2018 Than In 2017

Statistics Canada says the cost of operating a personal vehicle in Canada increased by 6.2 percent in 2018 compared to the year before.

That overall increase was driven by a number of cost bumps in a variety of vehicle-related categories. The largest of those was the price of gasoline, whose average cost per litre in Canada went up by 12.5 percent in 2018, compared to an 11.8 percent increase the year before.

The Statistics Canada consumer price index (CPI) tracks prices for groceries and mortgages and everything in between. The cost of gasoline was a major factor in the CPI's overall increase of 2.3 percent in 2018; with gasoline out of the picture, the CPI rose by 1.9 percent.

It was also more expensive to maintain and repair a vehicle last year than in 2017: Repair and maintenance costs were up 2.6 percent and parts and accessories prices increased 1.8 percent.

There was no reprieve in any other vehicle-related categories, either: In 2018, Canadians also paid more to purchase new vehicles and then register, insure and park them. On average, the cost of drivers' licenses went up nationwide, too. Statistics Canada said that the national average price of gasoline fell 14.2 and 11.9 percent in January and February of 2019 compared to the same months in 2018.