Statistics Canada Reports Consumer Price Index Rose 1.7% Year Over Year in April 2025
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.7% in April 2025 compared with April 2024, according to Statistics Canada. This was slower than the 2.3% increase reported in March. Statistics Canada identified a 12.7% decrease in energy prices as the main reason for the slower annual increase, following a 0.3% drop in energy prices the previous month.
The CPI figures show that food purchased from stores rose 3.8% year over year in April, and shelter costs increased by 3.4%. Transportation costs fell 1.9% over the same period. Gasoline prices saw the largest drop among energy components, declining 18.1% compared with April 2024. Statistics Canada noted that this was primarily due to the removal of the consumer carbon price, lower global crude oil prices, and increased oil supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+). Natural gas prices also dropped 14.1% after showing an increase in March.
Excluding energy, the CPI rose 2.9% in April, after a 2.5% increase in March. Statistics Canada reported that higher prices for travel tours (up 6.7%) and food purchased from stores (up 3.8%) helped moderate the overall slowdown in inflation. Within grocery categories, prices rose most for fresh vegetables (+3.7%), fresh or frozen beef (+16.2%), coffee and tea (+13.4%), sugar and confectionery (+8.6%), and other food preparations (+3.2%). Prices for food purchased from restaurants went up 3.6% year over year.
Month over month, the CPI decreased by 0.1% in April. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the monthly CPI was down 0.2%. Nine provinces saw prices rise at a slower pace in April compared with March. Quebec was the sole province with faster price growth, as gasoline prices there fell less than in other provinces, and the federal consumer carbon price was not removed because of the province’s cap-and-trade system. In Nova Scotia, Statistics Canada noted that a decrease in the harmonized sales tax rate contributed to slower growth in consumer prices.
Statistics Canada also announced that the basket used to calculate the CPI will be updated in June 2025 to use 2024 household spending data. The agency will begin calculating certain index series that have previously been handled by the Bank of Canada, starting with the May 2025 release.