Canada's inflation rate cooled to 5.2 per cent in February, the largest deceleration from a previous month since April 2020, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency said its consumer price index had a year-over-year deceleration from February 2022, when the inflation rate was 5.7 per cent.
The reading compared with an annual inflation rate of 5.9 per cent in January and was the lowest reading since January 2022, when it was 5.1 per cent.
Statistics Canada noted that the decline was due to a steep monthly increase in prices in February 2022.
Despite the overall cooling, grocery prices remained elevated and outpaced overall inflation.
Prices for food purchased from stores in February were up 10.6 per cent compared with a year ago, the seventh consecutive month of double-digit increases.
