2. The rates are adjusted by operation of law on 1 January of each year by a rate corresponding to the annual variation in the average all-items Consumer Price Index for Québec excluding alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and recreational cannabis for the 12-month period ending on 30 September of the year preceding the year for which the rates are to be adjusted.
The results of the adjustment are rounded up to the nearest multiple of $0.25. An amount that is equidistant from 2 multiples is rounded off to the higher multiple.
If the results of the adjustment cannot be rounded up to the higher multiple in accordance with the rounding rule in the second paragraph, the annual adjustments are deferred and accumulated until the amount can be rounded up to the higher multiple.
The application of this section may not decrease the rates below their pre-adjustment level.
The Minister publishes the results of the adjustment in the Gazette officielle du Québec.
496-2019O.C. 496-2019, s. 2; S.Q. 2020, c. 5, s. 214.