(Ottawa) Inflation slowed down in the country in July, mainly thanks to the drop in prices at the pump, but the costs of food and housing have increased from year to year.
The inflation rate increased by 1.7 % from one year to other year in July to the country, according to Statistics Canada, which represents a drop compared to the increase of 1.9 % observed in June.
This decline is mainly attributable to the decrease of 16.1 % of petrol prices over a year, which shows that the effects of withdrawal from federal carbon pricing for consumers have continued to be felt.
Fuel prices also fell 0.7 % on a monthly basis, following an increase in the production of oil exporting countries and a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
If consumers have benefited from a respite from the pump, they were faced with an increase in food and housing prices.
The inflation of food prices sold in grocery store has accelerated to 3.4 % in July, compared to 2.8 % in June.
Confectionery (+11.8 %) and coffee (+28.6 %) experienced particularly high increases. According to Statistics Canada, this is explained by poor cultivation conditions in cocoa and coffee producing countries.
The prices of fresh grapes increased by almost 30 %, resulting in an overall increase in fresh fruit prices of 3.9 % in July, compared to 2.1 % in June.
Housing prices increased by 3.0 % from one year to the next, after having increased by 2.9 % in June, which represents the first acceleration of growth since February 2024.
The increase in rents accelerated in July, in particular at the Prince Edward Island, in Newfoundland and Labrador and in British Columbia. The drop in mortgage costs continued to moderate the overall increase in inflation for housing prices.
In Quebec, inflation was 2.3 % in July, after being 2.2 % in June. Quebec is one of the two provinces where inflation has been higher than the national average, the other being Manitoba.
The Bank of Canada will carefully analyze inflation data in the context of its preparation for its next decision on interest rates on September 17.
Statistics Canada said that basic inflation measures favored by the Central Bank, which tend to eliminate the most volatile price variations, were maintained around 3 % in July.
