Saskatchewan had the highest increase in inflation compared to other provinces in November year over year.

The province's consumer price index increased 3.7 per cent from last November, compared to the increase of 2.1 per cent for Canada on a year-to-year basis.

All provinces saw an increase, but Saskatchewan increased faster than all provinces except Manitoba.

That was largely driven by gas prices and the purchase of new passenger vehicles, but there are a few factors unique to Saskatchewan.

"The introduction of the application of PST to food purchases from restaurants and insurance products is the main factor behind the higher relative increase." said Rebecca Taves, who is a lead analyst in the consumer prices division at Statistics Canada.

"We expect to continue to see those changes in Saskatchewan's PST to be reflected in the province's consumer price index for some months to come, actually."

Cost climbs at grocery stores

An increase in the cost of living hits families who are already struggling financially particularly hard, said Steve Compton, CEO of the Regina Food Bank.

"For people who have limited income, or not enough income in a household basis, it will be a driver that will bring people to our doors."

Compton said he's heard several concerns around the rising cost of food and that the food bank is already expecting to take on more new clients next year.

Over the last few months we've been seeing, on average, 100 to 150 new households each month. That's a troubling sign. - Steve Compton, CEO of the Regina Food Bank

"Over the last few months we've been seeing, on average, 100 to 150 new households each month," he said. "That's a troubling sign. We were hopeful, in some ways, that perhaps we'd seen sort of the worst of some of the economic effects."

Low or fixed incomes don't keep pace with the cost of living, so families are left juggling how to pay for food, rent, bills, school and medical care, he said.

Compton encourages people to consider how an increase to the cost of living might affect others.

Statistics Canada analyst Rebecca Taves said there was -6.0 per cent drop in the cost of telephone services in November on a year-over-year basis, meaning Saskatchewan residents were paying six per cent less than they were a year ago for the phone services. (Matt Prokopchuk / CBC) "Recognize that sometimes when there are economic challenges or there are rising costs, what might affect myself in one way disproportionately affects somebody that might have a little less."

Statistics Canada measures these statistics using a consumer price index, which is essentially based on the cost of a basket of goods that would represent a Canadian household's spending. It measures price changes over time and the rate of inflation in the country.