Canadian Consumer Price Index Increases 1.9% Year-Over-Year in January

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9% year-over-year in January, following an increase of 1.8% in December. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 1.7%.

Month-over-month, the CPI rose 0.1% in January, compared with a 0.4% decline in December. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1%.

In January, increased energy prices—notably for gasoline and natural gas—contributed the most to the acceleration. These price increases were partly offset by continued downward pressure on prices for products affected by the goods and services tax (GST)/harmonized sales tax (HST) break introduced in December.

Prices for the food component fell 0.6% year-over-year in January, the first yearly decrease since May 2017, driven by a record decline of 5.1% in prices for food purchased from restaurants.