Canada Inflation Rate and CPI
StatsCan releases CPI monthly; this page updates the same day
Canada Inflation Rate Overview
Yearly Inflation 3.0% | Two Year Inflation 4.9% | Three Year Inflation 7.0% | Core CPI (BoC) 2.2% Inflation Rate | Core (All excl. food + energy) 2.1% Inflation Rate |
Food 2.8% Inflation Rate | Shelter 1.5% Inflation Rate | Household 0.4% Inflation Rate | Clothing & Footwear 1.2% Inflation Rate | Transportation 7.5% Inflation Rate |
CPI Trim 1.9% Inflation Rate | CPI Median 2.0% Inflation Rate | Health 2.2% Inflation Rate | Recreation 5.6% Inflation Rate | Energy 15.4% Inflation Rate |
What’s Driving Inflation?
| 12-Month Change (CPI) | Basket Weight (% of CPI) | Contribution to August 2026's Inflation Rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 2.8% | x | 16.91% | 0.5% |
| Shelter | 1.5% | x | 29.41% | 0.5% |
| Household | 0.4% | x | 13.25% | 0.05% |
| Clothing & Footwear | 1.2% | x | 4.38% | 0.1% |
| Transport | 7.5% | x | 16.9% | 1.3% |
| Health | 2.2% | x | 5.05% | 0.1% |
| Recreation | 5.6% | x | 10.12% | 0.6% |
| Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis | 1.7% | x | 3.99% | 0.1% |
Contribution to August 2026 Inflation Rate of 3.03%
Current Canada Inflation Rate: 3%
Updated on September 14, 2026: Canada's annual inflation rate held steady at 3.0% in August, unchanged from July. Gasoline remained the largest contributor even as its pace eased, rising 23% year over year from 26% in July, with prices staying elevated as the Middle East conflict carried into September. Travel and shelter added to the pressure: travel tours jumped 26% from a year earlier, up from 15% in July on a base-year effect tied to weaker Canadian travel to the U.S. in 2025, while rent picked up to 2.8% from 2.5%. On a monthly basis the CPI slipped 0.1%, or rose 0.2% seasonally adjusted. Underneath the headline, price growth stayed moderate. Inflation excluding gasoline came in at 2.4%, up slightly from 2.2%. Grocery inflation eased to 2.8% from 3.1%, dropping below the all-items rate for the first time since July 2024, led by dairy at just 0.7% year over year. Clothing prices fell 1.1%, and shelter costs stayed low at 1.5%. The Bank of Canada's core measures barely moved, with CPI-trim at 1.9%, CPI-median at 2.0%, and CPI-common easing to 2.6%. Regionally, inflation accelerated in six provinces, led by the Atlantic region, where a 44% jump in fuel oil prices lifted Nova Scotia to 5.1%, Prince Edward Island to 4.4%, and Newfoundland and Labrador to 4.3%. Ontario stayed the lowest at 2.4%. The overall picture is much like July's: energy still leads the cost pressure, with travel and shelter behind, while the underlying trend outside gasoline remains steadier than the 3.0% headline suggests.
How Statistics Canada Calculates the CPI
Statistics Canada calculates the Consumer Price Index (CPI) by measuring how prices change over time for a fixed basket of goods and services that represents what Canadian households typically purchase.
Key steps
Build the basket
Statistics Canada defines a basket of goods and services that reflects household consumption patterns.
- The basket covers hundreds of representative goods and services, grouped into major categories such as shelter, food, transportation, health, and recreation.
- Expenditure weights are derived primarily from the Survey of Household Spending and national accounts data.
- Major components include shelter, food, and transportation, which together account for a large share of total household spending.
- Basket weights are updated annually, and the CPI series is chain-linked to maintain continuity over time.
Collect prices
- Prices are collected monthly from a wide range of retail outlets, service providers, and administrative data sources across Canada.
- Collected prices reflect what consumers actually pay, including applicable indirect taxes (such as GST/HST), discounts, and sales, where relevant.
- Prices are tracked for specific products and services over time to ensure consistent comparisons.
Compute price indexes
- At the lowest level, price movements are calculated using elementary price indexes, commonly based on geometric means of price relatives.
- These elementary indexes are then aggregated using fixed expenditure weights in a Laspeyres-type (Lowe) index framework, which compares the cost of the basket at current prices to its cost in the reference period.
All-items CPI
The All-items CPI is a weighted average of all component indexes and represents overall consumer price inflation for Canadian households.
Statistics Canada releases the CPI monthly, with inflation most commonly reported as the percentage change from the same month one year earlier.
Today's Mortgage Rates
| HELOC | 1-Year Fixed | 2-Year Fixed | 3-Year Fixed | 5-Year Fixed | 5-Year Variable | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest Rates | 4.45% | % | ||||
| Average Rates (10 Lenders) | -- | |||||
| 30-Days Change of Average Rates | -- |
| Term | Lowest Rates | Average Rates (10 Lenders) | 30-Days Change of Average Rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| HELOC | 4.45% | -- | -- |
| undefined-Year Fixed | % | % | NaN bps lower |
| undefined-Year Fixed | % | % | NaN bps lower |
| undefined-Year Fixed | % | % | NaN bps lower |
| undefined-Year Fixed | % | % | NaN bps lower |
| undefined-Year Variable | % | % | NaN bps lower |
The basket of 10 lenders includes: CIBC, BMO, TD, Scotiabank, RBC, National Bank, Desjardins, nesto, Tangerine, First National.
Headline Inflation
Canada Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
Canada Inflation Chart
Historical Canada Inflation Rates
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2.01% | 1.36% | 1.27% | 1.66% | 1.50% | 1.49% | 1.26% | 1.10% | 1.34% | 1.49% | 1.18% | 1.50% |
| 2017 | 2.13% | 2.05% | 1.56% | 1.64% | 1.32% | 1.01% | 1.16% | 1.40% | 1.55% | 1.39% | 2.10% | 1.87% |
| 2018 | 1.70% | 2.16% | 2.31% | 2.22% | 2.22% | 2.45% | 2.99% | 2.84% | 2.22% | 2.44% | 1.68% | 1.99% |
| 2019 | 1.44% | 1.51% | 1.88% | 2.03% | 2.40% | 2.02% | 2.01% | 1.94% | 1.87% | 1.86% | 2.17% | 2.25% |
| 2020 | 2.40% | 2.16% | 0.89% | -0.22% | -0.37% | 0.66% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.51% | 0.66% | 0.95% | 0.73% |
| 2021 | 1.02% | 1.09% | 2.20% | 3.39% | 3.60% | 3.06% | 3.72% | 4.09% | 4.38% | 4.65% | 4.72% | 4.80% |
| 2022 | 5.14% | 5.69% | 6.66% | 6.77% | 7.73% | 8.13% | 7.59% | 7.01% | 6.86% | 6.88% | 6.80% | 6.32% |
| 2023 | 5.92% | 5.25% | 4.30% | 4.41% | 3.36% | 2.81% | 3.27% | 4.00% | 3.80% | 3.12% | 3.12% | 3.40% |
| 2024 | 2.86% | 2.78% | 2.90% | 2.69% | 2.87% | 2.67% | 2.53% | 1.95% | 1.64% | 2.02% | 1.89% | 1.83% |
| 2025 | 1.90% | 2.64% | 2.32% | 1.74% | 1.73% | 1.86% | 1.73% | 1.85% | 2.36% | 2.16% | 2.22% | 2.36% |
| 2026 | 2.29% | 1.78% | 2.39% | 2.82% | 3.23% | 2.80% | 3.03% | 3.03% |
Source: Statistics Canada
| Date | Rate |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 1.90% |
| February 2025 | 2.64% |
| March 2025 | 2.32% |
| April 2025 | 1.74% |
| May 2025 | 1.73% |
| June 2025 | 1.86% |
| July 2025 | 1.73% |
| August 2025 | 1.85% |
| September 2025 | 2.36% |
| October 2025 | 2.16% |
| November 2025 | 2.22% |
| December 2025 | 2.36% |
Source: Statistics Canada
Measures of Core Inflation
It is understood that inflation is often a monetary problem. It is also understood that high inflation harms the fabric of society. Thus, most modern economies have independent central banks tasked with controlling inflation. Central banks need to see the underlying trend of inflation. Since food and energy prices have historically been the most volatile components of the CPI basket, core inflation is defined as changes in the consumer price index for all items, excluding food and energy. In Canada, CPIX excluded fruits, vegetables, gasoline, fuel oil, natural gas, mortgage interest, intercity transportation and tobacco products. CPIX also excludes price changes because of indirect taxes.
Bank of Canada (BoC) used CPIX as its measure of the underlying trend of inflation. However, BoC research found that CPIX is not suitable for guiding monetary policy since other components can show volatility as well, while prices of excluded components also change due to underlying inflationary pressures. That study suggested that no single measure of core inflation is suitable for guiding monetary policy. Yet there are three reasonably good measures of core inflation: CPI-trim, CPI-median and CPI-common.
The percentage change in the price of each CPI component constitutes a distribution. Excluding the components in this distribution's left and right tail would produce a basket whose price change is CPI-trim. CPI-trim produced by Statistics Canada and used by the BoC excludes 20% of CPI components with the greatest price rises and 20% of CPI basket components with the greatest price declines or least price increases. Thus, CPI-trim inflation reflects changes to the price of 60% of CPI basket components. CPI-median inflation measures the rise in the price of the CPI component whose price is rising faster than half of CPI basket components but slower than the price of the other half of CPI basket components. Finally, CPI-common measures the price changes in common between different CPI components and excludes price movements in specific CPI components. The calculation of the CPI-common is quite mathematically involved.
Core (All Excluding Food and Energy) Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
Core (All Excluding Food and Energy) Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
Historical Core (All Excluding Food and Energy) Inflation Rates
| Date | Rate |
|---|
CPI Trim Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
CPI Trim Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
Historical CPI Trim Inflation Rates
| Date | Rate |
|---|
CPI Median Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
CPI Median Inflation Rate Statistics (CPI)
Historical CPI Median Inflation Rates
| Date | Rate |
|---|
Inflation Affects Interest Rates
Inflation and interest rates in Canada are tightly linked because the Bank of Canada targets 2% inflation (within a 1–3% band) and uses the Bank of Canada policy rate to keep inflation near that target. When inflation changes, it ripples through the entire interest‑rate structure that households and businesses face.
When inflation is running above the 2% target, the Bank of Canada usually raises its overnight policy rate to cool demand, which pushes up prime rates, variable mortgage rates, lines of credit, and many business loan rates.
Higher inflation expectations also tend to lift long‑term bond yields (Government of Canada bonds), because investors demand extra compensation for the expected erosion of purchasing power, which in turn increases fixed mortgage rates and GIC rates.
When inflation falls below target, or the economy weakens, the Bank typically cuts the policy rate to stimulate borrowing and spending, leading to lower variable mortgage and HELOC rates and, over time, lower fixed‑rate borrowing costs.
Changes in the policy rate also affect savings products: high inflation/high rate periods usually bring better yields on GICs and high‑interest savings accounts, while low inflation/low rate periods reduce returns for savers but cheapen borrowing for households and firms.
Because Canadian lenders price many products off the Bank's policy rate and Government of Canada bond yields, shifts in inflation and inflation expectations end up influencing everything from mortgage rates to car loans, student loans, and corporate bond yields.
Inflation's Impact on Taxes and Social Benefits in Canada
Inflation erodes the purchasing power of money, and in Canada, it affects taxes and government payments in two primary ways.
- Tax brackets and credits rise: CRA indexes federal/provincial tax brackets, basic personal amount, RRSP limit, TFSA limit, and credits (e.g., GST/HST) to CPI annually; this indexation uses CPI from October to September and is mandated by Income Tax Act, s. 117.1 (Can.).
- Social payments increase: OAS, CPP benefits, GIS, Canada Child Benefit, and provincial assistance adjust quarterly/yearly with CPI to preserve real value.
Higher inflation means bigger nominal paycheques trigger more tax, but indexed thresholds offset most of it; benefits rise too, preventing this mechanism from improving the government's fiscal position.
Glossary
The following definitions explain common terms used on this page to help interpret Canada's inflation data.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
A measure of prices over time for a typical basket of goods and services purchased by Canadian (or another geography's) households.
Headline CPI
The overall CPI that includes all categories, such as food, shelter, transportation, and energy. Its change is the most commonly cited inflation rate.
Inflation Rate
The percentage change in CPI over a given period, indicating how quickly prices are rising or falling.
Year‑over‑Year (YoY)
Compares prices in a given month to the same month one year earlier. This is the standard way inflation is reported.
Month‑over‑Month (MoM)
Compares prices to the previous month. This shows short‑term price movements but can be more volatile.
Seasonally Adjusted
Data that has been adjusted to remove predictable seasonal patterns (such as higher travel costs in summer), makes month‑to‑month comparisons clearer.
Core Inflation
Measures of inflation that exclude volatile items (such as gasoline) to better reflect underlying price trends. In Canada, common core measures include CPI‑trim and CPI‑median.
CPI Basket
The collection of goods and services used to calculate CPI, weighted based on how much households typically spend on each category.
Contribution to Inflation
Shows how much each category (for example, food or shelter) adds to or subtracts from the overall inflation rate.
Disclaimer:
- Any analysis or commentary reflects the opinions of WOWA.ca analysts and should not be considered financial advice. Please consult a licensed professional before making any decisions.
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- Interest rates are sourced from financial institutions' websites or provided to us directly. Real estate data is sourced from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and regional boards' websites and documents.