August 17, 2026ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR JULY 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 5.0% year-over-year in July 2026, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous month.
Nationally, consumer prices grew 3.0% year-over-year in July 2026, up 0.5 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 5.0% year-over-year inflation were: gasoline, rent, fuel oil and other fuels, food purchased from restaurants, and traveller accommodation.
The largest downward year-over-year contributions were from: financial services, sugar and confectionery, fresh or frozen chicken, furniture, and cereal products (excluding baby food).
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's all items CPI was up 0.9% from June 2026 to July 2026. National prices were up 0.5% on average, with monthly increases in all provinces. The fastest rate of monthly increase was in Newfoundland and Labrador, with the slowest increase in British Columbia.
Major upward contributors to Nova Scotia's monthly consumer prices were: gasoline, inter-city transportation, electricity, rent, and travel tours. Major downward contributors were: personal care supplies and equipment, purchase and leasing of passenger vehicles, seeds, plants and cut flowers, women's clothing, 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 22.6% from July 2025 to July 2026. Year-over-year energy prices were up 16.6% 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 5.6% from June 2026 to July 2026, the fastest increase among provinces. National energy prices were up 2.5% with every province reporting higher prices compared to the previous month.
In July 2026, gasoline prices were up 29.0% compared to a year ago in Nova Scotia, more than the national average increase of 25.7%. All provinces reported increases, with Newfoundland and Labrador reporting fastest increase in gas prices year-over-year, and Québec the slowest.
Gasoline prices were up 7.7% from June to July in Nova Scotia. Nationally gasoline prices were up 3.6% with all provinces except British Columbia reporting higher prices, led by Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia's year-over-year fuel oil prices were up 33.7% in July 2026 compared with July 2025. Nationally, the fuel oil and other fuels price index increased 29.5% compared to July 2025 with all provinces, led by New Brunswick, reporting increases.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's fuel oil prices were down 0.9% compared to June 2026. National fuel oil prices were up 3.5% from June to July, with increases in seven provinces. Québec reported the fastest monthly increase, and British Columbia the fastest decrease.
Food prices increased 2.8% in Nova Scotia year-over-year, below the national average food price inflation of 3.0% in July 2026. Food prices were up in every province, led by Saskatchewan.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's food prices fell 0.1% from June to July. National food prices were up 0.2% with growth in six provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador, Québec and Alberta reported the largest monthly increases 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 3.3% from July 2025 to July 2026. Nationally, inflation excluding food and energy was 1.9% with year-over-year increases in all provinces. Manitoba reported the fastest growth (followed closely by Alberta and Nova Scotia), while Ontario reported the slowest increase in prices excluding food and energy.
On a monthly basis, Nova Scotia's prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.6% from June to July. Nationally, prices for all items excluding food and energy were up 0.4% with every province reporting increases led by New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Alberta. The slowest rate of inflation excluding food and energy was in Saskatchewan.
Year-over-year shelter cost inflation was 6.5% in Nova Scotia in July 2026, above the national average shelter price increase of 1.3%. Nova Scotia had the fastest increase in shelter prices, while Ontario reported the only decline.
Monthly shelter costs were up 0.8% in Nova Scotia from June to July 2026. Nationally, shelter costs were up 0.1% with increases in eight provinces. Prince Edward Island had the fastest monthly increase in shelter prices, while Ontario reported the only decline. There was no change in shelter prices in Manitoba.
Among detailed food products with available data, Nova Scotia's year-over-year inflation was fastest for pork and beef. Year-over-year price declines were fastest in chicken, fats/oils, and sugar/confectionary.
In detailed shelter cost components, the fastest year-over-year growth was reported for fuel oil/other fuels and water.
Household operations/furnishings costs were up 0.1% overall. The largest year-over-year price increase was for paper/plastic/aluminum products, while prices fell the most for utensils/tableware/cookware.
Clothing and footwear prices were up 5.8% year-over-year in July 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 2.0% year-over-year on gains in all sub-components. Personal care services reported the largest price increase.
Overall transportation costs were up 9.4% year-over-year in July due in large part to an increase in gasoline prices. The only decrease was in taxis/other local transportation, while vehicle registration prices were unchanged.
Nova Scotia's overall prices for recreation, education and reading were up 6.4% from July 2025 to July 2026 with the fastest increase for travel services/accommodations. The only decline was in reading (excluding textbooks) and home entertainment equipment/services.
Nova Scotia's prices for alcohol, tobacco and recreational cannabis were up 0.4% year-over-year. The largest increase was in wine 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 July 2026 were:
- CPI-common: 2.7% (up from 2.6% the previous month)
- CPI-median: 2.0% (up from 1.9% the previous month)
- CPI-trim: 1.9% (unchanged from the previous month)
The core CPI excluding volatile products and the effects of indirect taxes was 2.3% (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