Consumer Price Index, August 2026
September 16, 2026
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.0% year over year in August, matching the 3.0% increase in July.
Year over year, prices for gasoline rose at a slower pace in August compared with July, putting downward pressure on the all-items CPI. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.4% in August, after increasing 2.2% in July.
In August, the slowdown in gasoline prices on an annual basis was offset by higher prices for travel tours and rent.
The CPI fell 0.1% month over month in August. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2%.
Chart 1
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding gasoline
Chart 2
Prices increase at a slower pace in five major components in August
Prices for travel tours accelerate on a base-year effect
Year over year, prices for travel tours rose at a faster pace in August (+26.1%) compared with July (+15.2%), partly due to a base-year effect. Canadian travel to the United States declined sharply in 2025, putting downward pressure on prices for airfares and travel tours. Given that this decline has now stopped affecting the 12-month price movement, along with the introduction of fuel surcharges amid higher prices for jet fuel, upward pressure has been put on the travel tours index.
On a monthly basis, prices for travel tours fell 2.9% in August.
Gasoline prices increase at a slower pace
Prices for gasoline rose 22.8% year over year in August, following a 25.7% increase in July. Despite the year-over-year slowdown, prices for gasoline remained elevated, as the conflict in the Middle East continued in August.
Chart 3
Prices for gasoline decelerate year over year
Consumers pay less for clothing
On a year-over-year basis, consumers paid less for clothing in August (-1.1%) compared with July (+0.9%). The decline was driven by lower prices for men’s clothing (-2.3%) and children’s clothing (-1.9%), following increases of 2.0% for men’s clothing and 4.0% for children’s clothing in July.
Conversely, women’s clothing was unchanged (+0.0%) year over year in August, after falling 0.7% in July, moderating the decline in clothing prices.
Grocery price growth falls below headline inflation
Price growth for food purchased from stores continued to slow in August, rising 2.8% year over year after increasing 3.1% in July. For the first time since July 2024, grocery price growth increased at a slower pace than the all-items CPI in August 2026.
Prices for dairy products led the deceleration in grocery prices; they rose 0.7% year over year in August compared with a 3.1% rise in July. Cheese and yogurt were the top contributors to the slowdown in dairy prices.
Smaller price increases for fresh or frozen pork (+1.6%), condiments, spices and vinegars (+0.7%) and fresh fruit (+4.7%) also contributed to the year-over-year slowdown in grocery inflation in August.
Although prices for groceries decelerated this month, prices have increased 29.0% since August 2021.
Chart 4
Grocery prices increase at a slower pace than the all-items Consumer Price Index
Regional highlights
Year over year, prices rose at a faster pace in six provinces in August compared with July.
Among the provinces, the Atlantic provinces had the highest rates of inflation in August, with price growth accelerating in Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. Prices for fuel oil and other fuels rose at a faster pace in August (+43.7%) compared with July (+29.5%), putting upward pressure on prices in these provinces, where fuel oil is more commonly used.
At the national level, prices for rent increased 2.8% year over year in August compared with a 2.5% increase in July. Higher prices in Manitoba (+4.3%) and Ontario (+2.4%) drove this acceleration.
Chart 5
The Consumer Price Index increases at a faster pace in six provinces
