But more recently, Bank of Canada officials have said wage growth has fallen short of where it should be.

In the last four months of 2018 wages barely budged, the growth rate down to 1.3 per cent for the year.

Meanwhile, prices for everything from groceries to shelter rose faster, with Statistics Canada recording a year-over-year inflation rate of two per cent in December 2018.

Wages rose, but they failed to keep pace with inflation.

In March, an Angus Reid Institute poll
confirmed relatively few people feel better off. Just 17 per cent of
Canadians felt their standard of living was better than it had been a
year ago.

Twice as many — 34 per cent — said they were worse off than a year earlier.