The Canadian Consumer Price Index Reference Paper
Appendix C – Detailed Chronology of Basket Updates and Changes to the Consumer Price Index
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| Basket Reference YearAppendix C Note 1 | Basket link monthAppendix C Note 2 | Basket start monthAppendix C Note 3 | Basket end monthAppendix C Note 4 | Food BasketAppendix C Note 5 | Revisions at basket update | Target population/geographical coverage | New products introduced | Other notable changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Jan-14 | Dec-27 | 1913 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Annual indices were available from 1913. January 1914 marked the introduction of continuous monthly indices. | |
| 1926 | Dec-27 | Jan-28 | Aug-40 | 1926 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1937 - 1938 | Aug-40 | Sep-40 | Dec-48 | 1937-1938 | N/A | Urban wage-earner families with annual incomes during the basket reference period between $450 and $2,500. | N/A | N/A |
| 1947-1948 (Sept 1947 - Aug 1948) | Dec-48 | Jan-49 | Dec-60 | 1947-1948 | Index values were revised back to the basket link month, January 1949, when the basket was introduced in August 1952. | All Canadian families living in 27 Canadian cities with a population over 30,000, ranging in size from two adults to two adults with four children, and with annual incomes during the basket reference period ranging from $1,650 to $4,050. | Owned accommodation was introduced into the CPI. | The name of the index was changed from "Cost-of-living index" to "Consumer Price Index (CPI)". Seasonal baskets were used for food |
| 1957 | Dec-60 | Jan-61 | Apr-73 | 1957 | This was the first basket in which the official CPI values previously released were not revised and a “no revision” policy was adopted for the CPI. Index values under the new 1957 basket were calculated back to January 1957 for comparison purposes only. | Same as previous basket. | Forty-three new products were added to the basket. Examples include: frozen foods, air travel and the purchase and repair of television sets. Twelve products were removed from the basket. Examples include: canned strawberries, ice, brooms, hospital rates, radio licenses. | N/A |
| 1967 | Apr-78 | May-73 | Sep-78 | 1969 | “No revision” policy. | All Canadian families living in urban centres with metropolitan populations exceeding 30,000, ranging in size from two to six persons, consisting of any combination of adults or adults and children, and with annual incomes during the basket reference period ranging from $4,000 to $12,000. | Forty-four new products were added to the basket. Examples include: parking, stereos, cameras, hotels/motels, tuition fees and alcohol consumed in licensed premises. Twenty-four products were removed from the basket. Examples include: lard, coal, wool blanket, knitting yarn, doctors’ services, prepaid medical care. | A supplementary product classification was created in order to calculate separate indices for goods and services. This marked the return to annual weights for food, replacing the seasonal food weights used in the CPI since 1949. |
| 1974 | Sep-78 | Oct-78 | Mar-82 | 1974 | Previously published city indices were revised to reflect an expanded shelter component. | Canadian families and unattached individuals living in private households in urban centres with populations of 30,000 and over. This was the first time that family size and household income were not determinants of the target population. | N/A | A policy of regular basket updates was established, with the updates tied to a four-year cycle of the Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX). National indices were calculated as weighted averages of the corresponding indices for 59 urban centres. The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) replaced the Residential Building Construction Input Price Index in the CPI series measuring homeowners’ replacement cost, mortgage interest cost and insurance for owned accommodation. |
| 1978 | Mar-82 | Apr-82 | Dec-84 | 1978 | N/A | The general target population remained the same as in the previous basket. Indices for two northern cities, Whitehorse and Yellowknife, were calculated for the first time. Sixty-four urban centres were grouped into 31 strata, using geographical proximity and urban centre size as major criteria of this stratification. |
N/A | N/A |
| 1982 | Dec-84 | Jan-85 | Dec-88 | 1982 | N/A | Whitehorse and Yellowknife were incorporated into the calculation of the All items CPI. | N/A | A standard classification of goods and services (the Consumer Classification System) was introduced. |
| 1986 | Dec-88 | Jan-89 | Dec-94 | 1986 | N/A | Eighty-two urban centres were grouped into 34 strata. | N/A | N/A |
| 1992 | Dec-94 | Jan-95 | Dec-97 | 1992 | N/A | Target population was expanded to include expenditures made by residents of smaller cities, towns and rural communities. Also added were expenditures made by households that existed for only part of the basket reference year 1992 (such as college students living separately during the school year). | N/A | The introduction of the 1992 basket was postponed by two years to ensure it would reflect adjustments to consumption patterns resulting from the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the removal of the Federal Sales tax in January 1991. The "housing" component from the 1986 basket was split into two major components: "shelter" and "household operations, furnishings and equipment". This brought the number of major components to a total of eight. Also, the definition of "shelter" was changed. The traveller accommodation category, which was part of the 1986 definition of "shelter", was moved to "recreation" with the introduction of the 1992 basket. To provide some continuity certain aggregates were reconstructed using their 1986 basket definitions. |
| 1996 | Dec-97 | Jan-98 | Dec-02 | 1996 | N/A | Target population was expanded to include all private households in Canada. The condition of population equal to or greater than 30,000 was dropped. | N/A | No adjustment was made to the basket weight for alcohol. |
| 2001 | Dec-02 | Jan-03 | Apr-07 | 2001 | N/A | An index for Iqaluit, the capital city of the newly created Territory of Nunavut, was calculated from December 2002 onwards with December 2002 as the time base. | Internet access services and financial services were both added to the CPI basket as new product classes. | The first CPI basket to be based on the Survey of Household Spending (SHS) rather than on the Family Expenditure Survey (FAMEX). The CPI classification for clothing was collapsed into women's clothing, men's clothing and children's clothing, since the SHS did not have the more detailed breakdown previously available in FAMEX. |
| 2005 | Apr-07 | May-07 | Apr-11 | 2001 | N/A | N/A | Medical services not covered by provincial health care systems were introduced into the basket. | N/A |
| 2009 | Apr-11 | May-11 | Jan-13 | 2001 | N/A | N/A | Several new product classes were added to the CPI basket including smartphones, tablet PCs, funeral services, retail club memberships, government services (e.g. Passport fees). | N/A |
| 2011 | Jan-13 | Feb-13 | Dec-14 | 2011 | N/A | N/A | N/A | The first basket update using the redesigned Survey of Household Spending |
| (SHS-R). | ||||||||
| The first biennial basket update. | ||||||||
| 2013 | Dec-14 | Jan-15 | Dec-16 | 2013 | N/A | N/A | Additional fruits and vegetables added to list of elementary aggregates. On-line video subscriptions included with satellite and cable video subscriptions. | Certain obsolete products such as 35mm film removed from list of elementary aggregates. Clothing elementary aggregates below the Basic Class level reorganised to better represent the current clothing market. |
| 2015 | Dec-16 | Jan-17 | Dec-2018 | 2015 | N/A | N/A | Further obsolete consumer electronics and services such as video rentals removed from Basic Classes. Luxury passenger vehicles added as a separate elementary aggregate. First update of the food weights for the Northern Territories from the SHS-R. | |
| 2017 | Dec-18 | Jan-19 | 2017 | N/A | N/A | Introduction of therapeutic and recreational cannabis, audio streaming services, platform-based taxi services, platform-based short-term accommodation services, commuter train fares and some food products. | Two new elementary aggregates created for the introduction of therapeutic cannabis and recreational cannabis. | |
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