Canadian Consumer Price Index Increases 3.4% Year-Over-Year in April

According to Statistics Canada (StatsCan), the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 3.4% on a year-over-year basis — its fastest pace since May 2011, up from March’s gain of 2.2% gain. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.6% in April. Excluding energy, the CPI was up 1.6% year over year in April, following a 1.1% increase in March. A significant proportion of this increase was attributable to a steep decline in prices in April 2020, as the monthly CPI rose 0.5% in April 2021. As some regions extended restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19, causing employment losses for some Canadians, prices grew 0.5% month over month in April 2021 — the same growth rate as in March 2021. Prices rose in every major component on a year-over-year basis. Transportation prices (+9.4%) increased in April, mainly because of higher gasoline prices compared with April 2020.