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June 22, 2026ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR MAY 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 5.2% year-over-year in May 2026, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous month. This was the fastest pace of all-items year-over-year price inflation since February 2023.
Nationally, consumer prices grew 3.2% year-over-year in May 2026, up 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 5.2% year-over-year inflation were: gasoline, fuel oil and other fuels, rent, food purchased from restaurants, and purchase and operation of recreational vehicles.
The largest downward year-over-year contributions were from: furniture, financial services, electricity, household appliances, and travel tours.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's all items CPI was up 1.0% from April 2026 to May 2026. National prices were up 1.0% on average. The fastest rate of monthly increase was in British Columbia, with the slowest rise in Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.
Major upward contributors to Nova Scotia's monthly consumer prices were: gasoline, traveller accommodation, telephone services, inter-city transportation, and rent. Major downward contributors were: fuel oil and other fuels, household appliances, processed meat, fresh or frozen chicken, and women's clothing.
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 25.6% from May 2025 to May 2026. Year-over-year energy prices were up 22.2% nationally with all provinces reporting increasing energy prices (fastest: Prince Edward Island, slowest: Québec).
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's energy prices were up 3.0% from April 2026 to May 2026. National energy prices were up 3.3% with every province reporting higher prices compared to the previous month, led by Saskatchewan.
In May 2026, gasoline prices were up 34.3% compared to a year ago in Nova Scotia, more than the national average increase of 33.2%. All provinces reported increases, with Ontario reporting largest increase in gas prices year-over-year, and Québec the slowest.
Gasoline prices were up 6.1% from April to May in Nova Scotia. Nationally gasoline prices were up 5.6% with all provinces reporting higher prices, led by Saskatchewan. Québec reported the slowest monthly increase in gasoline prices.
Nova Scotia's year-over-year fuel oil prices were up 45.3% in May 2026 compared with May 2025. Nationally, the fuel oil and other fuels price index increased 45.6% compared to May 2025 with all provinces, led by New Brunswick, reporting increases.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's fuel oil prices were down 3.1% compared to April 2026. National fuel oil prices were down 3.7% from April to May, with decreases in seven provinces, with Québec reporting the fastest monthly decrease, and Manitoba the largest monthly increase.
Food prices increased 3.3% in Nova Scotia year-over-year, below national average food price inflation of 3.8% in May 2026. Food prices were up in every province, led by Manitoba.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's food prices rose 0.5% from April to May. National food prices were up 0.7% with growth in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador. Ontario 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 2.9% from May 2025 to May 2026. Nationally, inflation excluding food and energy was 1.6% with year-over-year increases in all provinces. Manitoba reported the fastest increase in inflation excluding food and energy prices (followed closely by Nova Scotia), while Prince Edward Island and 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 April to May. Nationally, prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.7% with every province reporting increases led by British Columbia. The slowest rate of inflation excluding food and energy prices was in Saskatchewan.
Year-over-year shelter cost inflation was 6.6% in Nova Scotia in May 2026. National shelter prices were up 1.7% with increases in all provinces. Nova Scotia had the fastest increase in shelter prices, while Ontario reported the slowest increase.
Monthly shelter costs were up 0.1% in Nova Scotia from April to May. Nationally, shelter costs were down 0.1% as four provinces reported declines. Newfoundland and Labrador had the fastest monthly increase in shelter prices, while Alberta had the largest decline.
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 cheese, fats/oils, eggs and processed meat.
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 1.3% overall. The largest year-over-year price increase was for child care/housekeeping and textiles, while prices fell the most for utensils/tableware/cookware and furniture.
Clothing and footwear prices were up 6.2% year-over-year in May as all sub-components grew except for clothing materials/services and children's clothing, with the fastest price growth in clothing accessories/jewellery.
Health and personal care costs were up 3.5% year-over-year on gains in all sub-components except non-prescribed medicine. Personal care services and supplies reported the largest price increases.
Overall transportation costs were up 10.2% year-over-year in May 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 5.2% from May 2025 to May 2026 with the fastest increase for purchase/operation of recreational vehicles. The only decline was in reading (excluding textbooks).
Nova Scotia's prices for alcohol, tobacco and recreational cannabis were up 0.7% year-over-year. The largest increase was in 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 most recent acceleration in inflation was the strongest since the inflation-targeting era began, though this inflation has 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 recent 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 May 2026 were:
- CPI-common: 2.7% (up from 2.5% in the previous month)
- CPI-median: 2.1% (unchanged from the previous month)
- CPI-trim: 2.0% (unchanged from the previous month)
The core CPI excluding volatile products and the effects of indirect taxes was up 2.2% (up from 2.1% 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