Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.8% in April, thanks to soaring

Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.8 per cent in April, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday, due to high energy prices — especially gasoline.

Energy prices rose a whopping 19.2 per cent year-over-year in April, following a 3.9 per cent increase the month before. 

The price of gasoline specifically rose even higher, by 28.6 per cent year-over-year, due to the supply crunch in the Strait of Hormuz, and because of the switch to the more expensive summer blend of gasoline.

The U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran has shuttered the strait, which has driven prices for energy up worldwide.

The agency noted the federal government’s move to suspend the fuel excise tax mid-month helped moderate the April price increase.

High energy prices were also the driving factor behind March’s inflation rate rise to 2.4 per cent.

Ottawa’s decision to remove the consumer carbon price a year earlier meanwhile skewed the annual price comparison higher in April.

Nixing the carbon price took roughly 18 cents off the cost of a litre of gas in April 2025. While that move took some steam out of the headline inflation rate over the past 12 months, that reduction has now fallen out of the annual comparison — pushing inflation higher rather than depressing it.

Clothing and footwear prices also rose two per cent in April, after falling by 0.4 per cent in March. 

Rents continued to climb, but at a lower pace, according to Statistics Canada. Nationally, rents rose by 3.6 per cent year over year — down from 4.2 per cent in March — while the pace of the price of rents in British Columbia didn’t grow at all.

And prices for tour travels fell 11 per cent in April, after rising 11.5 per cent the month prior.