For the general populace, higher interest rates mean unpaid credit card balances became more expensive. So do business loans. Monthly mortgage payments went up, and it is likely that many people who had been thinking of buying a home will now be thinking again. The money needed to pay those credit card, commercial and mortgage debts is a little less valuable, too. Just to keep the same purchasing power, you now need to earn more Canadian dollars.
Imports are more expensive today, and trips to the U.S. less affordable.
Common consumer items are becoming luxuries. The Bank of Canada hiked our interest rates because Alan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, did first. But Mr. Greenspan was acting to cool down the U.S. economy, which is threatening to overheat and turn inflationary. Unemployment in the U.S. is too low. Factories are too busy.