A local financial advisor says inflation may have been much higher in Canada in January were it not for the GST holiday.

Inflation rose to 1.9 per cent in January, but Larry Short of Short Financial, a branch of IA Private Wealth says the tax break on certain items including groceries, kept that down.

He says what’s more concerning is a slight change in trend after a year of steady decline in inflation.

He says “if we didn’t have that tax holiday, there was a potential for this to show as high as 2.5 per cent.” What is of greater concern says Short, “it’s not the absolute number that we’re worried about, it’s the change in trend.”

The magic question, says Short, is whether or not that is a true change in trend, and they won’t know that for at least a couple of months.