Consumer Price Index, July 2026
September 2, 2026
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.0% year over year in July, following a 2.8% gain in June.
On a year-over-year basis, higher prices for gasoline and travel tours in July contributed to the acceleration in the headline CPI. Moderating the faster price growth was a deceleration in the food purchased from stores index. The all-items CPI excluding gasoline rose 2.2% for the third consecutive month.
The CPI rose 0.5% month over month in July. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3%.
Chart 1
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding gasoline
Chart 2
Five of the eight major components accelerate in July
Gasoline prices increase at a faster pace in July
On a yearly basis, prices for gasoline grew at a faster rate in July (+25.7%) compared with June (+20.5%). The conflict in the Middle East, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the partial closure of Red Sea shipping routes in late July, put upward pressure on gasoline prices.
Chart 3
Prices at the pump rise in July
Prices for travel tours and air transportation increase
Year over year, prices for travel tours rose at a faster pace in July (+15.2%) compared with June (+6.8%). Contributing to higher prices were more expensive hotels and flights to US destination cities, coinciding with the hosting of World Cup matches.
Similarly, prices for air transportation rose 12.0% year over year in July following a 9.6% increase in June. Contributing to the price increase were higher jet fuel costs.
Grocery price growth slows but continues to outpace headline inflation
Prices for food purchased from stores grew at a slower pace in July (+3.1%) compared with June (+3.9%) on a year-over-year basis. Despite the slowdown, July was the 18th consecutive month that grocery price inflation outpaced the all-items CPI.
The year-over-year deceleration in grocery prices was driven by slower price growth for fresh vegetables (+3.9%) and fresh or frozen chicken (+0.3%) as well as lower prices for cereal products (-1.7%). Moderating the slowdown was higher prices for fresh fruit in July (+6.1%) compared with June (+1.7%).
On a monthly basis, price growth for fresh fruit recorded the highest month-over-month movement for the month of July since 2011, at 4.7%. Driving the monthly increase were higher prices for berries and melons.
Chart 4
Grocery price inflation continues to outpace growth in the all-items Consumer Price Index
Regional highlights
Year over year, prices rose at a faster pace in all provinces in July compared with June, except for Ontario.
On a yearly basis, Ontario was unchanged at 2.0% in July compared with June (+2.0%). This was the smallest price increase among the provinces, stemming from declines in homeowners’ replacement cost (-4.6%) and prices for natural gas (-18.7%).
Nova Scotia had the highest rate of inflation among the provinces at 5.0% in July. Driving the acceleration were higher prices for electricity (+3.3%) and rent (+8.7%).
In New Brunswick, faster price growth was led by higher prices for electricity (+4.4%) and traveller accommodation (+4.5%).
