Inflation figures announced in Ottawa today show a jump of to 1.5%

Housing costs account for 27 percent of Canada’s consumer price index and they rose 2.9 percent in November from a year earlier, led by the biggest jump in mortgage interest costs since March 2001. Food prices rose 3.1 percent, Statistics Canada said. Energy prices fell 2.8 percent.

Housing may have peaked though, according to Carolyn Kwan, an economist at Scotia Capital in Toronto. She pointed in an interview to new-home price data that Statistics Canada released Dec. 11, which showed the gain from a year earlier easing to 11.4 percent in October from 12.1 percent in August.

If we continue to get moderation in home prices, that will keep the Bank of Canada on track to cut rates next year, said Kwan, who predicts two cuts next year during the second and third quarters. The slowdown in economic growth also will help reduce inflation pressures going forward, she said.