Consumer Price Index, April 2026
May 29, 2026
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 2.8% year over year in April, up from an increase of 2.4% in March.
Higher energy prices, most notably gasoline prices, drove the acceleration in the headline CPI. The removal of the consumer carbon levy in April 2025, which resulted in monthly declines for gasoline and natural gas, has now fallen out of the 12-month movement, putting upward pressure on the all-items CPI. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose at a slower pace year over year in April (+2.0%) compared with March (+2.2%).
Moderating faster price growth in the all-items CPI was a year-over-year decline in prices for travel tours and a slowdown in rent prices.
The CPI was up 0.4% month over month in April. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.3%.
Chart 1
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding gasoline
Chart 2
Higher transportation prices fuel faster price growth in the all-items Consumer Price Index
Rising energy prices push inflation higher
In April, energy prices rose 19.2% year over year, following a 3.9% increase in March.
Gasoline prices continued to increase year over year in April, rising sharply by 28.6% after a 5.9% gain in March. The removal of the consumer carbon levy on April 1, 2025, resulted in a monthly price decline in that month, which put upward pressure on the year-over-year gasoline movement in April 2026. In addition to the accelerating base-year effect, prices were pushed higher by supply uncertainty (caused by the conflict in the Middle East), as well as by the switch to the more expensive summer blend. Moderating the increase was the temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax that went into effect on April 20.
Similarly, prices for fuel oil and other fuels increased 41.3% year over year in April, amid higher oil prices linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
A smaller year-over-year decline in prices for natural gas in April (-2.4%) compared with March (-18.1%) also contributed upward pressure to energy prices. Natural gas prices were impacted by the removal of the consumer carbon levy in April 2025.
Chart 3
Energy prices rise in April
Infographic 1
The gasoline index accelerates on a base-year effect and current events
Prices for clothing and footwear increase
After declining 0.4% year over year in March, prices for clothing and footwear rose 2.0% in April. The increase was led by higher prices for clothing, in particular women’s clothing (+1.4%). Prices for men’s clothing also contributed to the acceleration, falling less in April (-1.2%) compared with March (-2.9%).
Consumers pay less for travel tours
Year over year, prices for travel tours fell 11.0% in April, after rising 11.5% in March. The decline was led by a 17.3% monthly decrease in April, following a 5.8% gain in March. Prices for travel tours typically decline in the month of April following increased demand in the months of February and March.
Regional highlights
Year over year, prices rose at a faster pace in nine provinces in April compared with March. Prices in Quebec increased 3.0%, up slightly from March (+2.9%). Unlike the other provinces, Quebec was not impacted by the removal of the consumer carbon levy in April 2025 due to the province’s existing cap-and-trade system.
Chart 4
The Consumer Price Index increases at a faster pace in nine provinces
Price growth remains the same in British Columbia
British Columbia was the only province where price growth did not accelerate year over year, increasing 2.5% in April, the same rate as in March. Rent price growth slowed the most in this province, rising 3.4% in April, down from an increase of 6.4% in March. British Columbia’s population has declined for four consecutive quarters.
At the national level, prices for rent rose at a slower pace year over year in April (+3.6%) compared with March (+4.2%). Despite the slowdown, rent prices have increased 30.8% from April 2021 to April 2026.
Resulting base-year effect
The headline consumer inflation is measured as the percentage change between the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the current reference month (April 2026) and the CPI in a base month or the same calendar month of the previous year (April 2025). A base-year effect refers to the impact that price movements from 12 months earlier have on the current reference month’s headline consumer inflation.
When a large 1-month upward price change in the base month stops influencing, or falls out of, the 12-month price movement, this has a downward effect on headline CPI in the current reference month. Conversely, when a large 1-month downward price change in the base month falls out, this creates upward pressure on the current reference month’s 12-month figure.
