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July 20, 2026ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR JUNE 2026 Note that energy prices continue to reflect the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
Nova Scotia’s all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew 4.7% year-over-year in June 2026, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous month.
Nationally, consumer prices grew 2.8% year-over-year in June 2026, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. Inflation was fastest in Nova Scotia and slowest in Ontario.
The most significant upward contributors (combining price increase as well as share of the consumption basket) to Nova Scotia's 4.7% year-over-year inflation were: gasoline, fuel oil and other fuels, rent, traveller accommodation, and food purchased from restaurants.
The largest downward year-over-year contributions were from: furniture, financial services, electricity, pet food and supplies, and non-electric kitchen utensils, tableware and cookware.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's all items CPI was unchanged from May 2026 to June 2026. National prices were down 0.4% on average. The fastest rate of monthly increase was in Prince Edward Island, with the fastest decline in Ontario and Manitoba.
Major upward contributors to Nova Scotia's monthly consumer prices were: traveller accommodation, inter-city transportation, passenger vehicle insurance premiums, seeds, plants and cut flowers, and food purchased from restaurants. Major downward contributors were: gasoline, fuel oil and other fuels, rent, purchase and operation of recreational vehicles, and fresh vegetables.
Energy prices play a significant role in inflation rates. Nova Scotia's energy prices (and overall inflation) are more sensitive to fluctuations in the global price of crude oil. Nova Scotia's energy prices were up 17.3% from June 2025 to June 2026. Year-over-year energy prices were up 14.3% nationally with all provinces reporting increasing energy prices (fastest: Prince Edward Island, slowest: Québec).
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's energy prices were down 6.9% from May 2026 to June 2026. National energy prices were down 6.8% with every province reporting lower prices compared to the previous month, led by Ontario.
In June 2026, gasoline prices were up 20.9% compared to a year ago in Nova Scotia, more than the national average increase of 20.5%. All provinces reported increases, with New Brunswick reporting largest increase in gas prices year-over-year, and Québec the slowest.
Gasoline prices were down 10.3% from May to June in Nova Scotia. Nationally gasoline prices were down 10.2% with all provinces reporting lower prices, led by Ontario. Prince Edward Island reported the slowest monthly decline in gasoline prices.
Nova Scotia's year-over-year fuel oil prices were up 38.6% in June 2026 compared with June 2025. Nationally, the fuel oil and other fuels price index increased 33.6% compared to June 2025 with all provinces, led by New Brunswick, reporting increases.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's fuel oil prices were down 5.4% compared to May 2026. National fuel oil prices were down 7.9% from May to June, with decreases in every province, with Manitoba reporting the fastest monthly decrease, and Nova Scotia the slowest monthly decrease.
Food prices increased 4.1% in Nova Scotia year-over-year, above the national average food price inflation of 3.5% in June 2026. Food prices were up in every province, led by Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's food prices rose 0.8% from May to June. National food prices were down 0.2% with growth in every province except Québec and Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest monthly increase in food prices.
Food and energy prices are heavily influenced by volatile global commodity markets. Nova Scotia's underlying inflation rate excluding food and energy was 3.1% from June 2025 to June 2026, the fastest increase among provinces. Nationally, inflation excluding food and energy was 1.8% with year-over-year increases in all provinces. Ontario reported the slowest growth.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.8% from May to June. Nationally, prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.3% with every province reporting increases led by Prince Edward Island. The slowest rate of inflation excluding food and energy prices was in Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
Year-over-year shelter cost inflation was 5.9% in Nova Scotia in June 2026. National shelter prices were up 1.5% with increases in all provinces. Nova Scotia had the fastest increase in shelter prices, while Ontario reported the slowest increase.
Monthly shelter costs were down 0.6% in Nova Scotia from May to June, the fastest decline among provinces. Nationally, shelter costs were up 0.1% with three provinces reporting declines. New Brunswick and Alberta had the fastest monthly increase in shelter prices.
Among detailed food products with available data, Nova Scotia's year-over-year inflation was fastest for beef and coffee/tea. Year-over-year price declines were reported for butter and eggs, with no change for fats/oils.
In detailed shelter cost components, the fastest year-over-year growth was for reported for fuel oil/other fuels and water.
Household operations/furnishings costs were down 0.4% overall. The largest year-over-year price increase was for paper/plastic/aluminum products, while prices fell the most for utensils/tableware/cookware and furniture.
Clothing and footwear prices were up 7.2% year-over-year in June as all sub-components grew except for clothing materials/services, with the fastest price growth in clothing accessories/jewellery.
Health and personal care costs were up 2.9% year-over-year on gains in all sub-components except non-prescribed medicine. Personal care services reported the largest price increase.
Overall transportation costs were up 7.2% year-over-year in June due in large part to an increase in gasoline prices. The only decrease was in taxis/other local transportation, while city bus and vehicle registration prices were unchanged.
Nova Scotia's overall prices for recreation, education and reading were up 5.7% from June 2025 to June 2026 with the fastest increase for travel services/accommodations. The only decline was in reading (excluding textbooks).
Nova Scotia's prices for alcohol, tobacco and recreational cannabis were up 0.3% year-over-year. The largest increase was in liquor and beer from stores, while there was a large decrease in the price of cannabis.
Trends
Since the start of the Bank of Canada's inflation-targeting monetary policy regime, inflation for all items has generally been in the 0-4% range. Periods of above target inflation are typically followed by periods of slow price growth or declines. The acceleration in inflation from 2021 to 2024 was the strongest since the inflation-targeting era began, though this receded with tighter monetary policy and lower commodity prices. Nova Scotia's May 2026 all-items inflation rate of 5.2% was the fastest pace of year-over-year inflation since February 2023.
Many of these periods of accelerated and slowed inflation are attributable to volatile commodity prices, especially energy prices. Once the more volatile commodity prices are excluded, inflation in Nova Scotia has largely been below 2% for much of the last 20 years. However, the rise in inflation through 2021-2024 spread beyond commodity prices, resulting in the longest period under the Bank of Canada's inflation-targeting regime with Nova Scotia's CPI excluding food and energy above 3%. After decelerating in 2024, Nova Scotia's CPI excluding food and energy rose in 2025 and has remained above 2%.
The Bank of Canada examines 'core' measures of inflation that are intended to remove the effects of volatile components and capture underlying inflation trends that are more connected to capacity in the Canadian economy. Core measures of inflation August also indicate where all items inflation is headed.
Canada's core measures of inflation remained mostly at or below the Bank's target of 2% for over a decade prior to 2021. However, core inflation measures rose in 2022, peaking at over 6% for the CPI-common measure before declining around the beginning of 2023. Core measures of inflation began to rise toward the end of 2024.
The Bank of Canada's year-over-year core inflation measures in June 2026 were:
- CPI-common: 2.6% (up from 2.7% the previous month)
- CPI-median: 1.9% (down from 2.1% the previous month)
- CPI-trim: 1.8% (down from 2.0% the previous month)
The core CPI excluding volatile products and the effects of indirect taxes was 2.1% (down from 2.2% the previous month).
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 18-10-0004-01 Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted; Table 18-10-0256-01 Consumer Price Index (CPI) statistics, measures of core inflation and other related statistics - Bank of Canada definitions
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