Photo via Global News

Inflation stayed at 3% in August as travel costs soared, says StatCan

Read the original at Global News ↗
Cite

Rabinovitch, A. (2026, September 14). Inflation stayed at 3% in August as travel costs soared, says StatCan. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/12058045/inflation-august-2026/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Global News · collected 2026-09-14 · by Ariel Rabinovitch

Quick Summary

Statistics Canada reports that inflation remained at 3% year-over-year for August, as higher travel and housing costs offset slower increases in gasoline and grocery prices. Travel costs surged 26.1%, largely due to rising fuel surcharges and a base-year effect from lower previous year levels. Rent prices increased by 2.8%, up slightly from July’s rate of 2.5%. Economists note that while energy price spikes are contained, there remains a risk of broader inflationary pressure if oil prices stay elevated longer-term.
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In August 2024, Canada's consumer price index (CPI) remained steady at 3% year-over-year, as reported by Statistics Canada. Despite easing food and gas prices, travel and shelter costs increased, keeping overall inflation unchanged from the previous month. Gasoline costs rose but slowed to 22.8% compared to a peak of 25.7% in July, attributed partly to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Core consumer prices (excluding volatile items like gas) climbed by 2.4%, up slightly from 2.2% in July. Economists noted that while energy costs have not yet significantly impacted broader inflation pressures, future spikes—such as anticipated 5% increases in September—could lead to higher overall inflation rates.

Written for “Canadian Inflation Rates Stable” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Canadian Inflation Rates Stable
Economy/Business · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
CBC News
Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 74/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of inflation and price changes over August but do not describe the same specific incident.”
Semafor
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 2 of 6 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe inflation data from different countries (Canada and USA) for August 2026.”
NBC News
Hedges 5 of 26 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles report on different inflation data points with slight variations in timing and specifics of inflation rates, indicating they describe distinct reporting periods.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Global News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Global News · 2546 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ariel Rabinovitch
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Cleveland-Cliffs would be making a “mistake” by not respecting its obligations and commitments, as the U.S.-based owner of Stelco faces potential legal action from the federal government over their laying off of up to 500 Canadian steelworkers.
🔮 The Bank of Canada is expected to make an interest rate announcement Wednesday, with many economists predicting a hike for the first time in three years.
🔮 Rogers says it will begin charging most customers across Canada a 1.6 per cent processing fee next year for bill payments made using a credit card.
🔮 The Bank of Canada has held its key interest rate unchanged for about a year, but some economists expect rates to begin increasing again as early as next week — which would be the first hike in more than three years.
🔮 Several legal experts say that, based on publicly available information, the federal government could have a strong case.
🔮 Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is expected to speak Wednesday afternoon — her first public appearance since Stelco answered Ottawa’s legal threat over layoffs of up to 500 workers.
🔮 Dyed diesel has now been cleared for general use in the U.S. as gas prices soar, but Canadians could still face fines if caught using it on roads and highways.
🔮 Get daily National news “The strength in exports in August was tied largely to the front-running of U.S. tariffs that came into effect late in the month,” said senior economist Katherine Judge at CIBC in a statement, adding: “That means that the spike in exports is temporary and will ease in September.”
🔮 Dyed diesel is essentially regular diesel fuel that is dyed a reddish colour to identify it for exclusive off-road applications, like with tractors and farming equipment, and it’s comparably cheaper than regular diesel because it is exempt from most road and highway taxes. Trump’s executive order allows for Americans to use dyed diesel to fill up trucks and other road vehicles that would normally have to fill up for a higher cost at truck stops.
🔮 The Thanksgiving long weekend is a few days away, and although there may be some relief at gas and diesel pumps for consumers and businesses after some European countries released strategic oil reserves, gas price experts say it’s becoming harder to predict where prices are heading.
Also by Ariel Rabinovitch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Ariel Rabinovitch →

Topics

CIBC Canadian Statistics Canada the Royal Bank of Canada the United States

Subjects

Statistics Canada ORG · 3× Abbey Xu PERSON · 1× Andrew Grantham PERSON · 1× CIBC ORG · 1× Canadian NORP · 1× The Canadian Press ORG · 1× the Royal Bank of Canada ORG · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

August also marked the first time since July 2024 that retail food costs increased at a slower pace than the overall inflation reading, and Statistics Canada says grocery price growth increased at a slower pace than all the other categories in the August CPI report.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14
🔮 Get daily National news Xu added: “The risk of greater pass-through will rise the longer oil prices remain elevated.”
2026-09-14 · Global News
Inflation stayed at 3% in August as travel costs soared, says StatCan · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 0 hedged)

Consumer inflation held steady at three per cent last month compared to a year earlier as higher rent and travel costs offset a slowdown in rising prices for gas and groceries. asserted
costs → hold → gas
Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), was unchanged from July. asserted
rate → say → July
The agency says gasoline costs continued to increase in August but at a slower pace, with prices up 22.8 per cent compared with 25.7 per cent a month earlier, as the conflict in the Middle East continued to weigh on prices. asserted
conflict → say → prices
Excluding gasoline, core consumer prices rose 2.4 per cent last month compared to a year earlier, up from 2.2 per cent in July. asserted
prices → exclude → July
Some economists note the recent oil and gas price spikes appear to be contained, at least for now. asserted
spikes → note → ?
“Headline inflation remained elevated in August, but core measures continued to show only limited evidence that high energy prices are spilling over into wider inflationary pressure,” said CIBC economist Andrew Grantham in a statement. asserted
Grantham → remain → statement
Abbey Xu, economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, also said, “There continued to be limited evidence that elevated energy costs were generating significant second-round inflation. asserted
costs → say → inflation
Price growth remained high for energy-intensive categories such as air travel but had not spread materially across the broader consumer basket.” asserted
growth → remain → basket
Get daily National news Xu added: “The risk of greater pass-through will rise the longer oil prices remain elevated.” asserted
prices → get → through
Travel and tour costs surged 26.1 per cent in August from a year earlier, up from a 15.2 per cent increase in July, and Statistics Canada says rising fuel surcharges amid higher prices for jet fuel was one of the main reasons for this. asserted
surcharges → surge → this
One of the other reasons for this sharp increase in travel and tour costs was what the agency says was a “base-year effect” when comparing to a year earlier. asserted
agency → say → costs
That’s because prices for flights and tours were significantly higher last month than they were 12 months before, when there was a notable decline in Canadian travel to the United States. asserted
they → ’ → States
Housing costs were another hot spot for inflation last month, with rent prices increasing 2.8 per cent year-over-year in August, up from 2.5 per cent in July. asserted
prices → increase → July
Grocery prices continued to rise by 2.8 per cent last month compared to a year earlier, down from 3.1 per cent in July. asserted
prices → continue → July
August also marked the first time since July 2024 that retail food costs increased at a slower pace than the overall inflation reading, and Statistics Canada says grocery price growth increased at a slower pace than all the other categories in the August CPI report. asserted
growth → mark → report
Dairy products like cheese and yogurt saw price growth decelerate the most in the grocery basket, rising 0.7 per cent year-over-year in August compared with a 3.1 per cent increase in July. asserted
growth → see → July
The agency also notes that although overall food price growth cooled off in August, food prices have increased 29 per cent since August 2021. asserted
prices → note → August
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support