Consumer Price Index Monthly
Consumer Price Index, March 2024
This monthly release of the The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Canada, the provinces, Whitehorse and Yellowknife, provides a descriptive summary of retail price movements, inflation rates and the factors underlying them.
PEI and Canada Consumer Price Index
All-Items Consumer Price Index by Province
| CA | NL | PE | NS | NB | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | |
| Mar-24 | 159.8 | 161.9 | 164.8 | 163.7 | 159.8 | 156.7 | 161.4 | 159.0 | 161.2 | 167.3 | 153.8 |
| Feb-24 | 158.8 | 160.6 | 163.8 | 162.8 | 158.9 | 155.5 | 160.2 | 158.3 | 160.3 | 166.8 | 153.0 |
| Mar-23 | 155.3 | 157.0 | 160.7 | 158.4 | 155.8 | 151.3 | 157.3 | 157.7 | 158.8 | 161.7 | 149.7 |
| Year Over year Change (%) | 2.9% | 3.1% | 2.6% | 3.3% | 2.6% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 0.8% | 1.5% | 3.5% | 2.7% |
| Monthly Change (%) | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.5% |
Statistics Canada reported that the year-over-year change in the All-Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) for P.E.I. was 2.6 per cent in March 2024. Prices increased at a faster pace than the 1.5 per cent year-over-year increase one month ago (February 2024). Year-over-year prices rose at a faster pace in March than in February in 7 provinces. The change to the All-items index for P.E.I. as compared to February 2024 was 0.6 per cent. This compares to 2.9 per cent year-over-year and 0.6 per cent monthly changes for Canada.
Leading contributors to year-over-year price increases for P.E.I. were food purchased from restaurants (+9.6%), followed by mortgage interest cost1, gasoline (+2.7%), inter-city transportation (+8.9%), and cigarettes (+6.7%). These increases were partially offset by year-over-year declines for telephone services (-15.9%), traveler accommodation (-12.6%), fuel oil and other fuels (+0.3%), household appliances (-5.6%) and men's clothing (-5.5%).
The monthly change in the All-Items CPI for PEI in March 2024 was 0.6 per cent. Higher prices for travel tours1, inter-city transportation (10.4%), rent (2.5%), gasoline (1.6%), and women’s clothing (4.3%), were partially offset by lower prices for paper, plastic and aluminum foil supplies (-11.7%), fresh fruit (-8.1%), sugar and confectionery (-7.2%), fresh vegetables (-4.3%), and fuel oil and other fuels (-1.8%).
Prices increased year-over-year in 6 of the 8 major CPI components, led by a 5.2 per cent increase in health and personal care costs and a 4.5 per cent increase in food prices. The cost for health and personal care costs increased at a faster pace in March than in February (3.8%), while food prices increased at a slower pace than in February (5.3%). Food purchased from restaurants was up 9.6 per cent year-over-year in March, while food purchased from stores increased 1.9 per cent, the lowest year-over-year increase since July 2021. Energy2 costs increased 2.3 per cent year-over-year, after falling for five consecutive months.
March 2024 Prince Edward Island CPI Eight Major Components and Energy
| Prince Edward Island CPI Major Components | |||||||||
| Food | Household operations, furnishings & equipment | Shelter | Clothing & Footwear | Transportation | Health & Personal Care | Recreation, Education, & Reading | Alcohol, Tobacco, & Cannibis | Energy | |
| Mar-24 | 199.9 | 137.9 | 178.2 | 100.0 | 174.7 | 152.4 | 127.4 | 227.9 | 249.7 |
| Feb-24 | 200.1 | 138.6 | 176.9 | 98.2 | 172.4 | 151.3 | 125.2 | 228.1 | 247.3 |
| Mar-23 | 191.3 | 139.3 | 172.3 | 103.5 | 169.4 | 144.8 | 125.8 | 220.1 | 244.1 |
| Year Over year Change (%) | 4.5% | -1.0% | 3.4% | -3.4% | 3.1% | 5.2% | 1.3% | 3.5% | 2.3% |
| Monthly Change (%) | -0.1% | -0.5% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 0.7% | 1.8% | -0.1% | 1.0% |
Excluding energy, PEI’s CPI increased 2.6 per cent year-over-year, the third lowest among provinces. The year-over-year increase in the All-items excluding energy index for Canada was 2.9 per cent.
March 2024 CPI All-Items and All-Items Excluding Energy, Year-over-Year Change, Canada and Provinces
Nationally, the All-Items CPI rose 2.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis in March, up from a 2.8 per cent increase in February. The headline CPI grew at a faster pace largely due to higher prices for gasoline (+4.5%) and shelter costs (+6.5%), most notably mortgage interest costs (25.4%) and rent (8.5%). Year-over-year prices rose at a slower pace in March as compared to February in four of the eight major components.
The cost of food purchased from stores remains elevated, however year-over-year price growth slowed from 2.4 per cent in February to 1.9 per cent in March. This deceleration was broad-based, as prices for fish, seafood, and other marine products (-1.0%) and fruit, fruit preparations and nuts (-0.4%) declined, while prices for dairy products and eggs (+0.7%), bakery and cereal products, excluding baby food (+0.8%), vegetables and vegetable preparations (+2.6%) and other food products and non-alcoholic beverages (+3.0%) all decelerated in March as compared to February. Prices for meat (+3.4%) rose at a faster pace year-over-year than in February (2.6%).
On a monthly basis nationally, the All-Items CPI increased 0.6 per cent in March, following a 0.3 per cent increase in February.
For more information on the March 2024 CPI, as well as links to data tables, please refer to Statistics Canada’s release for the Consumer Price Index, March 2024.
Related downloads for this release:
Monthly Consumer Price Index Report PDF (87KB)
1 Data not published at the provincial level
2 The special aggregate "energy" includes: "electricity", "natural gas", ",fuel oil and other fuels", "gasoline", and "fuel, parts and accessories for recreational vehicles".
Visit the Consumer Price Index Portal to find all CPI data, publications, interactive tools, and announcements highlighting new products and upcoming changes to the CPI in one convenient location.
The CPI for April 2024 will be released on May 21, 2024.
Source: Statistics Canada.
Table 18-10-0004-01, Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted