Inflation falls to 2.8% as cell and internet costs decline

The annual inflation rate fell slightly to 2.8 per cent last month, according to Statistics Canada.

Many economists had predicted the opposite – a slight rise in prices across Canada.

But a drop in cellular costs and slower growth in food costs has helped bring the rate down.

In British Columbia, the rate was lower than Canada’s at 2.6 per cent.

That’s a 0.4 percentage point decline on January’s rate, which was three per cent.

StatCan said gas prices increased by 0.8 per cent year-over-year in February. In January, they declined four per cent.

The agency also said rent and mortgage costs “continued to apply upward pressure” to inflation in February.

Internet prices fell 13.2 per cent compared with February 2023, StatCan explained, while cell costs were down 26.5 per cent.

Food inflation was 2.4 per cent, the first time grocery prices increased at a slower rate than general inflation since October 2021.

But grocery costs were still 21.6 per cent higher in February than they were three years previously.

Annual inflation in Alberta, meanwhile, increased to 4.2 per cent last month.

It means it had the highest rate of all provinces in February.

StatCan said the increase was down to higher natural gas prices, which were up 15.1 per cent year-over-year.