Consumer Price Index, July 2015

Released: 2015-08-21

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.3% in the 12 months to July, after increasing 1.0% in June.

Lower energy prices continued to moderate the year-over-year rise in the CPI; however, the effect was less pronounced in July than in the previous month. In particular, the gasoline index was down 12.2% in the 12 months to July, compared with a 14.1% decrease in June.

Chart 1 
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the CPI excluding energy

12-month change in the major components

Prices were up in seven of the eight major components on a year-over-year basis in July, led by higher prices for food. An increase in the clothing and footwear index also contributed to higher consumer prices. The transportation index, which includes gasoline, recorded its ninth consecutive year-over-year decline.

Chart 2 
Prices increase in seven of eight major components

Food prices advanced 3.2% in the 12 months to July, following a 3.4% increase the previous month. Prices for food purchased from stores were up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis in July. The increase in the food index was led by meat prices, which rose 6.1% year over year in July, following a 6.6% increase in June. Additionally, prices were up year over year in July for fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. Prices for food purchased from restaurants rose 2.7% in the 12 months to July.

The clothing and footwear index increased 1.3% in the 12 months to July, after rising 0.3% the previous month. This acceleration was led by women's clothing, which increased 1.2% year over year in July, after decreasing 1.1% in June. In addition, the indexes for children's clothing and men's clothing posted larger year-over-year gains in July than in June.

The transportation index declined 1.7% in the 12 months to July, after falling 2.6% in June. This smaller year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to gasoline prices, which fell less in the 12 months to July than they did the previous month. Prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles increased 2.5% year over year in July, after posting a 2.0% rise the previous month.

12-month change in the provinces

Consumer prices rose in nine provinces in the 12 months to July. Saskatchewan posted the largest increase, followed by Ontario. Prince Edward Island's CPI registered its eighth consecutive year-over-year decrease.

Chart 3 
Consumer prices rise in every province except Prince Edward Island

Saskatchewan's CPI was up 1.9% in the 12 months to July, matching the increase in June. The province's purchase of passenger vehicles index rose 4.2% year over year in July, after posting a 4.9% gain the previous month. Homeowners' home and mortgage insurance costs were up 13.9% year over year in July, their largest increase since July 2008.

Ontario's CPI increased 1.5% year over year in July, after rising 1.0% the previous month. This acceleration was led by the natural gas index, which registered a smaller year-over-year decrease in July (-2.8%) than in June (-16.2%). The fresh fruit index increased 7.5% in Ontario in the 12 months to July, partly because of an unseasonal decline last year. Additionally, Ontario's index for homeowners' replacement cost rose 2.4% on a year-over-year basis in July, the largest increase in Canada.

Consumer prices in Alberta increased 1.3% on a year-over-year basis in July, after rising 1.7% in June. In Alberta, where the price of natural gas tends to be volatile, the natural gas index declined 30.7% in the 12 months to July. This followed a 6.7% year-over-year increase in June. At the same time, prices for the purchase of passenger vehicles were up less in the 12 months to July than in June. In contrast, electricity prices in the province increased 3.0% year over year in July, after decreasing 8.6% the previous month.

Seasonally adjusted monthly Consumer Price Index increases

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2% in July, after increasing 0.4% in June.

Chart 4 
Seasonally adjusted monthly Consumer Price Index

Six of the eight major components increased on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in July. The seasonally adjusted indexes for food and for recreation, education and reading posted no change.

The largest increase in July was observed in the seasonally adjusted clothing and footwear index, which rose 0.6%. The seasonally adjusted index for transportation was up 0.4%.

Bank of Canada's core index

The Bank of Canada's core index was up 2.4% in the 12 months to July, following a 2.3% rise in June.

The seasonally adjusted core index rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in July, following a 0.3% increase in June.

Products

For a more detailed report, consult the publication The Consumer Price Index. The July 2015 issue of The Consumer Price Index, Vol. 94, no. 7 (Catalogue number62-001-X), is now available from the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications.

More information about the concepts and use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is available in The Canadian Consumer Price Index Reference Paper (Catalogue number62-553-X).

For information on the history of the CPI in Canada, consult the publication Exploring the first century of Canada's Consumer Price Index (Catalogue number62-604-X).

A video providing an overview of the CPI is available on Statistics Canada's YouTube channel.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@canada.ca).