Provincial monthly average retail prices for selected products, April 2020

Released: 2020-06-10

Statistics Canada is now publishing a new monthly table of provincial average retail prices based on transaction data from Canadian retailers. Transaction data provide a comprehensive electronic record of the purchases made through a retailer's point-of-sale system, and contain relevant pricing information, such as product descriptions and quantities sold. The use of transaction data for the calculation of the average prices in this table offers a significant quality advantage over traditional in-store collection, given the large number of product prices available and the geographic coverage available.

Average prices for 40 different food products in each of the 10 Canadian provinces (territories excluded) are now available, as well as a historical series of average prices going back to January 2017. As consumer preferences change and more data sources become available, the contents of the table may be updated. What follows are some interesting trends and observations from the dataset.

Product highlights

Average price of celery posts sharp year-over-year decline

In July 2019, average celery prices began to fall across the country following a spike in the spring of 2019, when inclement weather conditions and the ensuing supply shortage pushed prices to an all-time high. In April 2020, average prices for celery were down in every province compared with the previous year, with the largest decline observed in Quebec (from $4.99 to $2.81).

Chart 1 
Average celery prices

Regional differences

Milk and cream

Average prices for milk and cream were stable from January 2017 to April 2020. Consumers in the Atlantic region paid more for a litre of cream than consumers elsewhere in the country. Notably, prices for cream in Newfoundland and Labrador were almost 50% higher compared with British Columbia, which had the lowest prices for cream. While residents of Ontario paid the lowest cream prices outside British Columbia, they paid the most for milk. In Ontario, a litre of milk costs over 80% more than in Manitoba, which had the least-expensive milk per litre.

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).