One of the Statistics Canada’s office buildings. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Canada’s annual inflation rate decreased to 2.2 percent in October, down from 2.4 percent the month prior, Statistics Canada says.
The agency said in its Nov. 17 report that the decrease was largely due to gas prices falling at a faster pace. Gasoline prices fell by 9.4 percent in October compared to 4.1 percent in September. Excluding gas, the inflation rate for both months would have been at 2.6 percent.
Ontario saw prices for natural gas fall by 17.3 percent year-over-year in October after rising by 2 percent in September. Prices fell by 22.4 percent month-over-month due to rate adjustments and lower commodity prices.
StatCan said that slower growth in grocery prices also contributed to the “deceleration” of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October.
Food prices rose by 3.4 percent in October, which was down from 4 percent in September. StatCan said that while food prices decelerated in October, “prices remained elevated and have exceeded overall inflation for nine consecutive months.”
While the price of fresh vegetables and other food preparations—including processed foods—grew at a slower pace in October, fresh and frozen chicken grew at a higher pace.
Prices for cellular services rose by 7.7 percent in October on a year-over-year basis, which the agency said was the first increase since April 2023, after remaining unchanged in September. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 8.2 percent in October due to price increases “from several wireless service providers.”
Home and mortgage insurance rose by 6.8 percent year-over-year in October, while passenger vehicle insurance premiums rose by 7.3 percent. Alberta led the provinces in insurance rate increases with a 13.7 percent rise in home and mortgage insurance and a 17.8 percent rise in passenger vehicle insurance premiums.
Property taxes, meanwhile, rose at 5.6 percent in October on a year-over-year basis. Most provinces had similar increases, except for Manitoba, whose 2025 property taxes rose by 19.5 percent due to higher sewer charges to fund upgrades to a sewage treatment facility and an increase in garbage fees in Winnipeg. Property taxes in Newfoundland and Labrador decelerated the most among the provinces, rising 2.6 percent in 2025 after a 9.7 percent increase in 2024.
Additionally, shelter prices fell from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent month-over-month, transportation fell from 1.5 percent to 0.7 percent, health and personal care fell from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent. Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana remained at 1.5 percent growth.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said during the central bank’s most recent interest rate cut to 2.25 percent, that if the country’s economy grew in line with its projections outlined in the bank’s October Monetary Policy Report, the current interest rate would be “at about the right level to keep inflation close to 2 percent” while helping the economy through a “period of structural adjustment.”
That Oct. 29 report expects inflation to fall from 2.4 percent in September to around 2 percent in early 2026, as the removal of Canadian counter-tariffs on the United States would put downward pressure on the metric. The report also expects there to be an easing of inflation for services, excluding shelter, over its projection horizon.
Matthew Horwood is a reporter based in Ottawa.