Canada Taux d'inflation

The annual inflation rate in Canada fell to 2.3% in March of 2025 from eight-month high of 2.6% in the previous month, below market expectations that it would remain at 2.6% and below forecasts by the central bank of 2.5%. The decrease kicked off the normalization of the inflation rate forecasted by the BoC this year after end of goods and services tax (GST) and harmonized tax (HST) breaks halfway last month triggered a 0.6 percentage point increase in the headline inflation rate. Prices reversed for gasoline (-1.6% vs 5.1% in February) amid the aggressive drop in crude oil prices after OPEC+ confirmed plans to raise output, driving transportation inflation to slow (1.2% vs 3%). In the meantime, promotions by carriers drove cellular costs to plunge 8.8% (vs -3.7%). On the other hand, the first full month without tax breaks drove food costs to jump (3.2% vs 1.3%), mainly due to food from restaurants (3.2% vs -1.4%). From the previous month, prices rose by 0.3%.