Canada’s inflation rate stayed flat in November but grocery prices grew at
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Canada’s annual inflation rate was unchanged in November, but grocery inflation reached its highest rate in nearly two years, Statistics Canada said on Monday.
Overall inflation rate came in at 2.2 per cent. But that rate has been largely outpaced by food since August 2024, and in November it rose 4.7 per cent compared to this time last year.
That marked the largest increase to grocery price growth since December 2023.
Fresh fruit — especially pricier berries — drove the increase, as did “other food preparations” (a category that mostly includes processed foods).
Coffee prices remain stubbornly high, having increased 27.8 per cent on a yearly basis in November. The trend has been ongoing as coffee-growing countries face adverse weather conditions and U.S. tariffs.
Meanwhile, fresh and frozen beef — up 17.7 per cent last month — continued to weigh on inflation, with prices driven up partly because cattle inventories are shrinking across North America.
“The increase in food inflation was driven by a combination of supply-side constraints, including severe weather conditions,” wrote RBC senior economist Claire Fan in a note to clients.
“And despite Canadian importers not paying tariffs themselves, prices in Canada could still be impacted by U.S. exporters passing on their related cost increases along food manufacturing supply chains,” she explained.
High beef prices are expected to continue to climb in 2026. For The National, CBC’s Paula Duhatschek breaks down what’s making meat so expensive and what it will take to stabilize the Canadian market.
BoC’s core inflation eased in November
Beyond the grocery store, prices for services grew at a slower rate in November, as the cost of travel tours and accommodations fell.
The year-over-year drop was mostly due to a base-year effect — Toronto saw a surge in tourism spending at this time last year because of Taylor Swift’s six-show concert run at Rogers Centre.
On the housing side, rent prices also grew at a slower pace last month, up 4.7 per cent on a yearly basis in November compared to October’s 5.2 per cent.
However, lower inflation for services was partly offset by higher prices for cellular services, which increased 12.7 per cent in November compared to 7.7 per cent in October. The decline was partly due to fewer promotions on offer in November 2025 compared to the same time a year earlier.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred measures of core inflation, which exclude volatile components such as food and gas, eased or stayed flat in November.
That should reinforce that “the central bank will not need to pivot to outright interest rate hikes in the near term,” wrote Fan.
“But we also expect the economy…
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