Inflation questions, answered

3.1% in the 12 months to September 2026, from Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index. See the latest CPI page for details.

It multiplies your amount by the ratio of two Consumer Price Index levels: amount × CPI(end) ÷ CPI(start). The CPI levels are Statistics Canada’s all-items index for Canada (2002=100). Annual mode uses the annual averages in table 18-10-0005-01; monthly mode uses the monthly index in table 18-10-0004-01.

Use annual averages when you know only the year, such as a salary or a house price from 1995. Use months when you know the date, such as a lease that started in March 2021. Monthly figures move with seasonal prices (gasoline, travel, fresh food), so two months in different seasons can differ from the annual comparison.

It is the steady yearly rate that would produce the same total change: (CPI end ÷ CPI start) raised to 1 ÷ years, minus 1. It smooths out good and bad years, so it is useful for comparing periods of different length.

Both use Statistics Canada’s CPI, but they may use different months or years, annual averages versus a single month, or different rounding. Check which periods each calculator compares. This calculator shows the exact index levels it used under the result.

Purchasing power is how much a fixed amount of money can buy. When the Consumer Price Index rises 10%, each dollar buys about 9% less (1 ÷ 1.10 = 0.91), because the same basket now costs more.

Yes. The annual average CPI fell in 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1953. In those years a dollar bought more than the year before; the chart shows them as small rises.

No. This page measures what a dollar buys inside Canada, from the Consumer Price Index. The exchange rate is what a Canadian dollar buys in other currencies, which is a different question.

No. Each index measures price change relative to its own base period, so an index of 170 in one province and 165 in another does not mean prices are higher in the first. Statistics Canada’s CPI measures price change over time within a place. Compare the percentage changes, which is what this tool does.

Statistics Canada publishes the territorial CPIs for the capital cities. Iqaluit’s series begins in 2003, so it cannot be compared for earlier years.

The basket weights differ (for example, how much households spend on heating or driving), and local prices for rent, electricity, gasoline and food move differently. Provincial policies such as carbon pricing, electricity rebates or sales-tax changes also show up in the provincial index.

Food; shelter; household operations, furnishings and equipment; clothing and footwear; transportation; health and personal care; recreation, education and reading; and alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and recreational cannabis.

The all-items CPI averages hundreds of goods and services, weighted by what households spend. Groceries are one part of the basket. If you spend a larger share on food than the average household, or buy items that rose faster, your own inflation rate is higher than the published one.

Statistics Canada’s component series begin when the component was first measured consistently: most major components start in 1949, and shelter and household operations in their current definitions start in 1979 (annual) or later. The tool only offers years where both ends exist.

Average weekly earnings including overtime, for all employees in the industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses, seasonally adjusted, from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (table 14-10-0223-01). It is an average across all payroll jobs, not the earnings of a typical worker.

The average also moves when the mix of jobs changes. In 2020, many lower-paid jobs disappeared temporarily, which pushed the average up even though individual pay did not change. Compare long periods, and use the personal check with your own pay.

Real wage change = (1 + wage growth) ÷ (1 + CPI growth) − 1. Positive means earnings bought more than at the start; negative means they bought less.

The Bank of Canada aims to keep CPI inflation at 2%, the midpoint of a 1% to 3% target range. Canada’s actual average was 2.6% a year over the last 10 full years and 2.2% over the last 25. Try more than one rate; nobody knows the future rate.

Real return = (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1. A 5% return with 2% inflation is a 2.94% real return, slightly less than the 3% you get by subtracting.

No. Enter a return after fees. Interest and gains in a non-registered account are taxed, which lowers the real return further; TFSA growth is not taxed.

A balance of $1 million in 30 years sounds large, but at 2% inflation it buys what about $552,000 buys today. Showing every amount in today’s dollars, and growing savings at the real return, makes the result something you can compare with your spending now.

Only if you enter them. Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits are indexed to the CPI, and most Canadians receive both, but the amounts depend on your earnings history, the age you start them and your years in Canada. Enter your expected yearly amount in today’s dollars as other income, or use a full planner such as RetirementPlanner.ca.

No. It is arithmetic on the return, inflation rate and spending you choose. It does not include tax, RRSP or RRIF rules, or investment risk. Try more than one inflation rate; nobody knows the future rate.

Statistics Canada publishes the CPI once a month, usually in the third week of the following month, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The release schedule is on Statistics Canada’s website. This page is rebuilt from the data after each release.

The 12-month change compares this month with the same month last year, which removes regular seasonal swings; it is the headline inflation rate. The monthly change compares with the previous month and is affected by seasonal patterns, because the CPI on this page is not seasonally adjusted.

They are the Bank of Canada’s preferred measures of core inflation. CPI-trim removes the components with the most extreme price changes each month; CPI-median takes the price change in the middle of the distribution. Both aim to show the underlying trend without one-off swings.

After each monthly CPI release. The current data was retrieved on October 30, 2026.

No. The calculators run in your browser and nothing you type into them is sent anywhere.