Consumer Price Index, December 2025
Released: 2026-01-19
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% on a year-over-year basis in December, following a 2.2% increase in November.
The year-over-year acceleration in the all-items CPI was driven by the temporary Goods and Services Tax (GST)/Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) break that began on December 14, 2024. This resulted in monthly declines for the exempt goods and services, which have now fallen out of the year-over-year movement, putting upward pressure on headline CPI growth.
Moderating the acceleration in the headline CPI was a year-over-year decline in prices for gasoline in December. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 3.0% in December, following a 2.6% increase in November.
The CPI fell 0.2% month over month in December. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.3%.
Chart 1
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and CPI excluding the effect of indirect taxes
Chart 2
Base-year effect of GST/HST break drives acceleration in prices for food and alcoholic beverages
Items impacted by GST/HST break 12 months earlier put upward pressure on year-over-year change in all-items Consumer Price Index
Various indexes were affected by the GST/HST exemption in December 2024, including restaurant food, alcoholic beverages, toys, games and hobby supplies, children's clothing and some grocery items, such as potato chips and confectionery.
Chart 3
Indexes impacted by the GST/HST exemption contribute to accelerating pressure on the Consumer Price Index
Year over year, higher restaurant prices were the largest contributor to faster growth in the all-items CPI in December 2025. Prices for food purchased from restaurants rose 8.5% in December, compared with a 3.3% increase in November. Prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments (+6.5%) and alcoholic beverages purchased from stores (+5.6%) also grew at a faster pace in December.
Prices for toys, games (excluding video games) and hobby supplies rose 7.5% in December, after a 0.5% decline in November. Additionally, prices for children's clothing accelerated in December (+4.8%) compared with November (+2.4%).
Year-over-year price growth also picked up for potato chips and other snack products (+7.9%) and confectionery (+14.2%).
Infographic 1
Restaurant prices increase at a faster pace due to base-year effect
The GST/HST break
The prices included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) are final prices, inclusive of all excise and other taxes paid by consumers. In particular, prices include the Goods and Services Tax (GST), provincial retail sales taxes (PST) or the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), as well as any environmental, liquor and tobacco taxes if applicable. This means that the CPI can change as a result of changes in any of these taxes.
The tax exemption began on December 14, 2024, and ended February 15, 2025, affecting approximately 10% of the CPI basket.
Grocery prices continue upward trend
Despite being unchanged month over month, prices for food purchased from stores rose 5.0% year over year in December. Coffee (+30.8%) and fresh or frozen beef (+16.8%) remained the largest contributors to the increase.
Consumers pay less for gasoline in December
On a year-over-year basis, prices for gasoline fell 13.8% in December after a 7.8% decline in November. The larger decline was due to prices falling 7.1% month over month in December, following a price increase in November which coincided with various refinery and pipeline disruptions. Crude oil prices have declined to their lowest point in over four years, amid a continued oversupply in global markets, among other factors.
Infographic 2
Larger year-over-year decline in gasoline prices in December compared with November
Smaller year-over-year declines in prices for air transportation and travel tours
Prices for air transportation fell to a lesser extent year over year in December (-0.8%) compared with November (-5.9%). While prices for air transportation typically rise during the holiday season, the 34.5% monthly increase in December was larger than previous increases for the month of December, and also fairly consistent across destinations.
Prices for travel tours fell 3.2% on a year-over-year basis in December, following an 8.2% decline in November. Month over month, prices for travel tours rose 3.6%, due to higher prices for destinations in the United States.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Tariffs affect many facets of the economy, including inflation. The imposition of tariffs by the United States and countermeasure tariffs by the Canadian government can result in varying effects on final consumer prices. Read more about the potential impacts of US tariffs on the Bank of Canada's website.
No special adjustments to the Consumer Price Index will be required for tariffs, as their effect is embedded in the final prices collected.
Statistics Canada will continue to monitor developments on tariffs and the impact on consumer price inflation.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
2025 annual review
Today, Statistics Canada publishes the release Consumer Price Index: Annual review, 2025, highlighting the annual average consumer inflation in Canada and the regions in 2025.
Explore the Consumer Price Index tools
Check out the Personal Inflation Calculator. This interactive calculator allows you to enter dollar amounts in the common expense categories to produce a personalized inflation rate, which you can compare with the official measure of inflation for the average Canadian household—the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Browse the Consumer Price Index Data Visualization Tool to access current (Latest Snapshot of the CPI) and historical (Price trends: 1914 to today) CPI data in a customizable visual format.
Regional highlights
On an annual basis in December, prices rose at a faster pace in nine provinces compared with November.
Year-over-year price growth decelerated in British Columbia due to a base-year effect in traveller accommodation. Prices fell 34.5% compared with December 2024, when a swift 62.0% month-over-month increase coincided with a series of high-profile concerts in Vancouver.
Chart 4
The Consumer Price Index rises at a faster pace in all but one province
Note to readers
Visit the Consumer Price Index portal to find all Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, publications, interactive tools and announcements highlighting new products and upcoming changes to the CPI in one convenient location.
Upcoming change to the revision policy for CPI-median and CPI-trim
With the release of the January 2026 Consumer Price Index on February 17, Statistics Canada will implement an updated revision policy for two core inflation measures, CPI -median and CPI-trim (table 18-10-0256-01). This update will ensure greater alignment with international best practices and other major Canadian economic indicators.
CPI-median and CPI-trim are calculated using seasonally adjusted consumer price data. Previously, CPI-median and CPI-trim were revised over a seven-year historical period with each release. As of the January 2026 release, revisions will extend back three years, on an annual basis, with each January release, while for all other months, CPI-median and CPI-trim will be revised for one historical month. This approach aligns with the revision policy for seasonally adjusted data available in table 18-10-0006-01.
The underlying model parameters used to calculate the seasonally adjusted data used to produce CPI-median and CPI-trim will remain unchanged, as will the revision policy for CPI-common, which is not based on seasonally adjusted data.
For additional information, users may contact the Consumer Prices Division (statcan.cpddisseminationunit-dpcunitedediffusion.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
Real-time data tables
Real-time data table 18-10-0259-01 will be updated on February 2. For more information, consult the document, "Real-time data tables."
Next release
The Consumer Price Index for January will be released on Tuesday, February 17.
Products
The "Consumer Price Index Data Visualization Tool" is available on the Statistics Canada website.
More information on 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 (CPI) and Your Experience of Price Change," are available on Statistics Canada's YouTube channel.
The podcast ''Eh Sayers Episode 18 - Why Food Inflation Is Such A Hard Nut To Crack'' is also available.
Find out answers to the most common questions posed about the CPI in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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 (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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