Consumer Price Index, October 2019
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Released: 2019-11-20
October 2019
1.9% 
(12-month change)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9% on a year-over-year basis in October, matching the increase in August and in September. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 2.3% following three consecutive monthly increases of 2.4%.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in October, following a 0.1% decline in September.
Chart 1
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding gasoline
Chart 2
Energy prices continue to decline year over year
Visit the new Consumer Price Index Portal!
Statistics Canada has launched a new Consumer Price Index (CPI) Portal as part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. The CPI Portal centralizes all CPI information and products in one convenient location on the Statistics Canada website. This webpage serves as a single point of access for users to find CPI data, publications, interactive tools and announcements highlighting new products and upcoming changes to the CPI.
Highlights
On a year-over-year basis, consumers paid 6.7% less for gasoline in October following a 10.0% decline in September. Although global demand for oil remained low in October, there were slight price increases on a monthly basis amid temporary supply disruptions in the Middle East, and a decline in crude oil inventories in the United States.
Natural gas prices rose 3.3% year over year after increasing 5.8% the previous month. This slowdown occurred as utilities in Ontario and Quebec revised commodity prices to reflect low current and forecasted natural gas prices in North America.
Fruit prices grow faster than vegetable prices year over year in October
Fresh fruit prices grew 7.9% year over year in October, a faster rate than the 2.0% increase in September. In contrast, prices for fresh vegetables grew at a slower pace in October (+7.5%), as supply pressure stemming from inclement weather in agricultural regions eased. This slowdown followed 12 consecutive months of year-over-year growth above 10%.
Chart 3
Fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, Canada, October 2018 to October 2019
Larger rebates slow growth in the purchase of passenger vehicles index
After eight months of year-over-year increases at or above 2.7%, growth in the purchase of passenger vehicles index (+1.8%) slowed in October. The lower level of growth was attributable, in part, to larger rebates compared with October 2018.
Regional highlights
Property taxes rise the most in Prince Edward Island
The cost of property tax, which is priced annually in October, rose 2.2% year over year at the national level. While higher property taxes in Ontario contributed the most to the gain, there was a notable increase in Prince Edward Island where prices rose 4.9%. This was attributable to higher assessment values for residential properties and costs associated with infrastructure projects within the province.
Traveller accommodation prices fall the most in Nova Scotia
The traveller accommodation index continued to trend downward, falling 4.0% year over year in October. Consumers in Nova Scotia paid 25.6% less compared with September, when a series of conferences occurred in the region. This is the largest month-over-month decline since the inception of this index in 1978.
Traveller accommodation prices in British Columbia were 23.7% lower compared with September, when higher prices coinciding with a series of major concerts were reported in the Vancouver region. This decline marks the largest month-over-month decline in this index since March 2010, the month following the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Chart 4
Traveller accommodation prices decline the most in Nova Scotia
Chart 5
The Consumer Price Index rises at a slower rate in five provinces
Note to readers
Consumer Price Index modernization
Statistics Canada is the nation's trusted source for information that contributes to informed decision making by governments, businesses and households. Statistics Canada continuously reviews and periodically updates the methods applied to various components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure it accurately reflects trends in the market, consumer behaviour and available data sources.
As part of the agency's efforts to modernize the CPI, various initiatives are underway, including the following:
- Increasing the use of alternative data sources for the food, clothing and footwear, and air transportation indexes
- Reviewing the CPI sample to better reflect consumer expenditure patterns in the digital economy
- Creating new analytical and interactive products, such as the CPI Portal and the CPI Data Visualization Tool.
Statistics Canada will continue to explore new ways to better serve Canadians and meet information needs.
Telephone services index and multipurpose digital devices index
Users are reminded that the methodology for the telephone services index and the multipurpose digital devices index was updated in November 2018 as part of the regular review of the CPI methodology. Interpretation of the 12-month price change indicator should be made with caution, particularly in the year following the implementation of the new methodology.
Detailed documentation describing the new approach for calculating the telephone services index is available in the article "New approach for estimating the Telephone Services Index of the Consumer Price Index," which is published as part of the publication Prices Analytical Series (62F0014M).
Real-time data tables
Real-time data table 18-10-0259-01 will be updated on December 2.
Next release
The Consumer Price Index for November will be released on December 18.
Products
The interactive Consumer Price Index Data Visualization Tool is available on the Statistics Canada website.
More information about the concepts and use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is available in The Canadian Consumer Price Index Reference Paper (62-553-X).
For information on the history of the CPI in Canada, consult the publication Exploring the First Century of Canada's Consumer Price Index (62-604-X).
Two videos, "An Overview of Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI)" and "The Consumer Price Index and Your Experience of Price Change," are 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; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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