Gasoline lifts Canadian inflation to 3.1% in September

Canada’s annual inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 3.1% in September from 3.0% in August, Statistics Canada said. Gasoline drove the acceleration: its price was up 27.8% on a year earlier, against 22.8% in August. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.2%, down from 2.4% in August.

Energy as a whole rose 19.0% year over year, after a 15.4% gain in August. Statistics Canada said crude oil reached its highest level since May amid uncertainty about wars in the Middle East. Other prices were calmer: rent rose 2.8% nationally, the same pace as in August, while grocery prices rose 1.7%, slowing from 2.8%. The release gives no Toronto-specific figure, so the city’s own rent pace is not known from it. Ontario tuition fees rose 2.1% in 2026, the largest increase since 2018, after the province ended its freeze.

The lesson is to read two numbers. The rate with gasoline rose to 3.1%, while the rate without it slowed to 2.2%.

Statistics Canada will publish the October CPI on Monday, November 16. Whether crude oil stays at September’s level is not yet known.

Sources: Statistics Canada