Inflation holds at 3% in August as rent, travel prices rise: StatCan

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

Prices for dairy products like cheese and yogurt led the deceleration in grocery prices. StatCan said dairy prices rose 0.7 per cent in August compared with a 3.1 per cent rise in July.

GreenFox

Why waiting to replace your windows and doors could cost you more than you think

Jul 22, 2026

What's On

Here is What's On in Medicine Hat this weekend: September 11-13

Sep 11, 2026

What's On

Top five things to do at the Medicine Hat Public Library in September

Sep 01, 2026

Smaller price hikes for pork, condiments, spices and vinegars also added to the year-over-year slowdown in grocery inflation.

Consumers paid less for clothing in August, with annual prices edging down 1.1 per cent last month due to a 2.3 per cent drop in men’s clothing prices and a 1.9 per cent decline in children’s clothing.

But Canadians paid more for travel amid rising fuel surcharges and as airlines adjusted to the sharp decline in Canadian travel to the United States in 2025, the agency said.

Rent prices also trended higher, increasing 2.8 per cent year-over-year in August, up from 2.5 per cent in July.

Across Canada, the Atlantic provinces had the highest rates of inflation in August, with prices accelerating in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, Statistics Canada said.

CIBC Economics said the headline number remained high in August, but underlying inflation showed few signs that higher energy costs were pushing up prices more broadly.

Senior economist Andrew Grantham said that while the Bank of Canada’s next interest rate decision is still more than a month away — with new inflation, employment and economic growth data due before then — the central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged.

“We continue to expect the bank will remain on hold at that time despite a possible energy-driven re-acceleration in headline inflation, due to the downside risks to growth emanating from U.S. trade policy and with core measures of inflation giving policymakers comfort that higher energy prices are not translating into widespread inflationary concerns,” he said in a client note.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2026.

Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press