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 ... (full story)

Canada’s annual inflation rate picked up steam to 2.4 per cent in December, according to Statistics Canada data published Monday. The GST holiday that was introduced in December 2024 and brought prices down was a factor in the comparative rise, the agency said. Financial industry observers had expected the inflation rate to remain in line with the 2.2 per cent rise recorded in November, according to consensus estimates published by BMO. “Inflation is close enough to the [Bank of Canada’s] two per cent target for policymakers to be perfectly comfortable on the sidelines for now,” CIBC economist Andrew Grantham had ... (full story)