OTTAWA — The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.3% year over year in March in Canada, after rising 5.2% in February.
The annual pace of inflation last month was the weakest since 4.1% in August 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency observed that prices for food purchased from stores rose 9.7% in March, a slower pace than February’s 10.6%. The slowdown in price growth was attributed to lower prices for fresh fruits and vegetables last month, particularly grapes, oranges, cucumbers and celery.
Gasoline prices fell year-over-year for the second straight month in March, falling 13.8%, the steepest annual decline since July 2020.
Homeowners’ replacement cost growth continued to slow in March due to a general slowdown in the housing market. On the other hand, the cost of mortgage interest increased by 26.4% compared to 23.9% in February. It was the largest annual increase on record, according to Statistics Canada.
Year over year, price growth slowed in March compared to February in all provinces.
Thus, from March 2022 to last month, the increase in the CPI was measured at 4.7% in Quebec, 4.6% in Nova Scotia, 4.2% in New Brunswick and 3.9% in New Brunswick. -Brunswick.
