Canadian Consumer Price Index Increases Month-Over-Month and Year-Over-Year

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (8-18-21) that the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 3.7% on a year-over-year basis in July, up from a 3.1% rise in June. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.8% year-over-year. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.6% in July, the fastest pace since January 2021. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI was up 0.5%. Year-over-year, StatsCan is reporting that prices rose at a faster pace in July than in June in every province.

Prices rose at a faster pace year-over-year in six of the eight major components in July, with shelter prices contributing the most to the all-items increase. The homeowners’ replacement cost index, which is related to the price of new homes, continued to trend upward, rising 13.8% year over year in July — the largest yearly increase since October 1987. Conversely, prices for clothing and footwear as well as alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and recreational cannabis slowed on a year-over-year basis in July compared with June.