Consumer Price Index Monthly
Consumer Price Index, February 2026
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
| Feb-26 | Jan-26 | Feb-25 | Year Over year Change (%) | Monthly Change (%) | |
| CA | 165.9 | 165.0 | 163.0 | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| NL | 165.5 | 164.9 | 162.5 | 1.8% | 0.4% |
| PE | 168.4 | 167.6 | 167.0 | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| NS | 169.2 | 168.5 | 166.3 | 1.7% | 0.4% |
| NB | 165.5 | 164.6 | 162.0 | 2.2% | 0.5% |
| QC | 163.1 | 162.3 | 158.6 | 2.8% | 0.5% |
| ON | 166.7 | 165.9 | 164.6 | 1.3% | 0.5% |
| MB | 167.1 | 165.9 | 163.8 | 2.0% | 0.7% |
| SK | 167.8 | 166.5 | 165.2 | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| AB | 174.4 | 173.5 | 171.4 | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| BC | 160.3 | 159.1 | 157.6 | 1.7% | 0.8% |
Statistics Canada reported that the year-over-year change in the All-Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) for P.E.I. was 0.8 percent in February 2026. This was the lowest year-over-year increase among provinces and down from a 1.8 percent increase in January. Year-over-year prices rose at a slower pace in February than in January in all 10 provinces. The change to the All-items index for P.E.I. as compared to January 2026 was 0.5 percent. This compares to 1.8 percent year-over-year and 0.5 percent monthly changes for Canada.
Leading contributors to year-over-year price increases for P.E.I. were food purchased from restaurants (11.4%), followed by purchase and leasing of passenger vehicles (2.2%), child care and housekeeping services (17.1%), fresh or frozen beef (21.6%), and seeds, plants and cut flowers1. These increases were partially offset by year-over-year declines for gasoline (-13.8%), traveler accommodation (-27.9%), fuel oil and other fuels (-9.4%), purchase and operation of recreational vehicles (-5.5%), and women's clothing (-6.0%).
The monthly change in the All-Items CPI for PEI in February 2026 was 0.5 percent. Higher prices for gasoline (4.4%), travel tours1, fuel oil and other fuels (5.8%), traveler accommodation (10.1%), and personal care services (5.8%), were partially offset by lower prices for rent (-1.4%), telephone services (-3.8%), household appliances (-3.6%), paper, plastic and aluminum foil supplies (-5.8%), and financial services (-1.7%).
Prices increased year-over-year in 4 of the 8 major CPI components, led by a 6.5 percent increase in food prices and a 2.7 percent increase in alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis prices. Energy2 costs fell 10.3 percent year-over-year, after dropping 12.9 percent in January.
The cost for food (from both stores and restaurants) increased by 6.5 percent as compared to February 2025. This was due largely to the temporary GST/HST break which ended mid-month in February 2025. Food purchased from restaurants was up 11.4 percent year-over-year in February, down from a 19.3 percent increase in January. Food purchased from stores increased 3.4 percent, a slowdown from the 4.8 percent increase seen in January. Prices for meat products (10.9%) and bakery and cereal products excluding baby food (2.8%) rose at a faster pace in February than in January, while price increases slowed for fish, seafood other marine products (5.2%), dairy products and eggs (3.3%), and other food products and non-alcoholic beverages (4.9%). Prices for fruit, fruit preparations and nuts (-3.5%) and vegetables and vegetable preparations (-5.3%) declined on a year-over-year basis in February.
February 2026 Prince Edward Island CPI, Eight Major Components and Energy
| Prince Edward Island CPI Major Components and Energy | |||||||||
| Food | Household operations, furnishings & equipment | Shelter | Clothing & Footwear | Transportation | Health & Personal Care | Recreation, Education, & Reading | Alcohol, Tobacco, & Cannibis | Energy | |
| Feb-26 | 212.1 | 140.9 | 181.5 | 97.7 | 173.6 | 159.9 | 128.3 | 233.9 | 230.4 |
| Jan-26 | 212.1 | 142.1 | 181.7 | 95.6 | 171.3 | 158.1 | 125.7 | 234.6 | 221.7 |
| Feb-25 | 199.2 | 139.5 | 181.8 | 100.6 | 178.6 | 156.4 | 129.5 | 227.7 | 256.8 |
| Year Over year Change (%) | 6.5% | 1.0% | -0.2% | -2.9% | -2.8% | 2.2% | -0.9% | 2.7% | -10.3% |
| Monthly Change (%) | 0.0% | -0.8% | -0.1% | 2.2% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 2.1% | -0.3% | 3.9% |
Excluding energy, PEI’s CPI increased 2.0 percent year-over-year, the lowest among provinces along with Ontario, also at 2.0 percent. The year-over-year increase in the All-items excluding energy index for Canada was 2.6 percent.
February 2026 CPI All-Items and All-Items Excluding Energy, Year-Over-Year Change, Canada and Provinces
NATIONAL
Nationally, the All-Items CPI rose 1.8 percent on a year-over-year basis in February, down from a 2.3 percent increase in January. The headline CPI grew at a slower pace largely due to a base-year effect. The effect of the GST/HST break, which ended in February 2025, fell out of the 12-month price movement in February 2026, resulting in a decelerating base-year effect on headline inflation. Most notably affected by this was food purchased from restaurants, which increased 7.8 percent year-over-year, down from a 12.3 percent increase in January.
Consumers paid 14.2 percent less at the pump in February 2026 compared with February 2025, following a 16.7 percent decline in January. The lead-up to the conflict in the Middle East, as well as oil supply disruptions in some producer countries, resulted in a 3.6 percent monthly increase in February. The national all-items CPI excluding gasoline index rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in February, following a 3.0 percent increase in January.
Year-over-year prices rose at a slower pace in February as compared to January in six of the eight major components.
On a monthly basis nationally, the All-Items CPI increased 0.5 percent as compared to January 2026, following no change in January.
For more information on the February 2026 CPI, as well as links to data tables, please refer to Statistics Canada’s release for the Consumer Price Index, February 2026.
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 March 2026 will be released on April 20, 2026.
Source: Statistics Canada.
Table 18-10-0004-01, Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted