Seven of eight major components increased on a year-over-year basis in March. The clothing and footwear index (-0.1 percent) was the lone major component to decline year over year.
For the second consecutive month, energy prices rose more on a year-over-year basis. Gasoline prices were 17.1 percent higher compared with March 2017, and were the largest contributor to the gain in energy prices.
The price of services was up 2.7 percent year over year in March. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums rose 1.4 percent in the 12 months to March. Recent interest rate increases continue to impact the mortgage interest cost index (+2.8 percent), which posted its eighth consecutive year-over-year rise.
Consumers paid less on a year-over-year basis for food in March (+1.7 percent) than they did in February (+2.1 percent). Prices for fresh vegetables (-2.1 percent) and meat (-0.4 percent) fell month over month.
Prices for durable goods increased 0.3 percent in the 12 months to March, following a larger gain in February (+0.6 percent). The purchase of passenger vehicles index declined 1.5 percent on a month-over-month basis in March, reflecting higher rebates reported for various 2018 model-year vehicles.
On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.3 percent, below 0.6 percent in February.
The BoC's annual core inflation, which excludes volatile items, edged down to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent.