The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 2.8% year over year in June, following a 3.2% gain in May. Prices for gasoline increased at a slower rate on a year-over-year basis in June compared with May, driving the deceleration in the headline CPI. Excluding gasoline, the CPI was unchanged in June compared with May, at 2.2%, reported Statistics Canada on Monday.
The CPI fell 0.4% month over month in June, the largest monthly decline since December 2024. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.1% in June, the first decline since April 2025 (-0.2%), said the federal agency.
“Prices at the pump increased at a slower rate on a year-over-year basis in June (+20.5%) compared with May (+33.2%). While gasoline prices remained elevated due to the conflict in the Middle East, diplomatic talks and an interim ceasefire arrangement contributed to an easing of global oil prices in June, leading to a 10.2% month-over-month decline. This was the largest monthly decline in gasoline prices since April 2025, when prices fell due to the removal of the consumer carbon levy,” noted Statistics Canada.
Prices for food purchased from stores grew at a slower pace on a year-over-year basis in June (+3.9%) compared with May (+4.3%). Despite the slowdown, June was the 17th consecutive month that grocery price inflation outpaced the all-items CPI, it said.
“The year-over-year deceleration in grocery prices in June was driven by slower price growth for fresh fruit (+1.7%), mainly due to lower prices for grapes (-0.6%). Moderating the slowdown in grocery prices were higher prices for fresh or frozen chicken (+5.7%), bread, rolls and buns (+6.0%) and frozen food preparations (+2.7%).”
Prices for traveller accommodation accelerated on a year-over-year basis in June, rising 10.1% compared with a 2.5% increase in May. Driving the acceleration were higher prices in Ontario (+19.4%) and British Columbia (+20.0%), mainly in Toronto and Vancouver, both of which were host cities for World Cup matches. At the same time, prices for the rental of passenger vehicles index rose 6.8% on a year-over-year basis, coinciding with higher demand for travel, it said.
Consumers paid 6.8% more for travel tours on a year-over-year basis in June, up from a 0.7% increase in May. In addition, prices for air transportation rose at a faster pace in June (+9.6%) compared with May (+7.4%) on a yearly basis, marking the largest increase since February 2023. Contributing to the price increase were higher jet fuel costs and greater demand for domestic travel, it added.
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