Canada’s inflation rate fell in April, driven in part by the lowering of the consumer carbon tax rate to $0 during the election campaign. However, while energy prices steeply decreased, other industries, like food, weren’t as lucky and prices skyrocketed due to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s counter-tariffs and ongoing industrial carbon tax.
The data released by Statistics Canada on Monday highlighted that Canada’s Consumer Price Index rose by 1.7 per cent annually in April, compared to a 2.3 per cent annual increase seen in March. This means that the average price of goods still increased yearly, just at a slower pace.
After the price of energy fell 1.6 per cent in March, it plummeted to an 18.1 per cent yearly decrease in April.
“The price decrease in April was mainly driven by the removal of the consumer carbon price,” reads the report.
Similarly, the price of natural gas fell 14.1 per cent in April, following a 6.4 per cent annual increase in March, a shift the report also credited to the removal of the consumer carbon tax.
While Carney claimed to “cancel” the carbon tax, a carbon pricing scheme law remains in place and can only be axed through a majority vote in Parliament.
Conservative MP Andrew Scheer highlighted the irony of legacy media reporting on the carbon tax’s contribution to reducing inflation after downplaying its impact for so long. For years, the Liberals also maintained that the consumer carbon tax played no real role in driving inflation.
“When Conservatives fought the carbon tax: no real impact on inflation. When Liberals do it: a big reduction in inflation,” said Scheer.
Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Terrazzano, echoed the sentiment.
“Stats Canada cuts through [the] government’s carbon tax spin [over] the last six years,” he said.
After ceasing collection on their provincial carbon levies in early 2024, Saskatchewan and Manitoba had already seen the benefits of removing the carbon tax, as their inflation fell much quicker than other provinces. By keeping the taxes off, their inflation rose at nearly half the rate of the rest of the country in 2024.
In April 2025, inflation rose more slowly in nine of ten provinces.
“Quebec consumers were not impacted by the removal of the federal consumer carbon price because of the province’s cap-and-trade system,” reads the report.
While the price of energy fell drastically, food prices continued to increase faster than any other industry, with a 3.8 per cent annual increase.
“Prices for food purchased from stores have been increasing at a faster rate than the all-items CPI for three consecutive months,” reads the report.
Sylvain Charlebois, who is popularly known as the Food Professor, said that food inflation has cooled in the United States since March’s round of tariffs, while in Canada it has tripled.
“The root causes are increasingly evident. Ottawa’s earlier decision to implement counter-tariffs disrupted long-standing North American procurement systems. In response, Canadian grocers began pivoting away from U.S. suppliers — particularly in categories like fresh produce and frozen foods — and turned to costlier or less efficient alternatives. The results are now showing up on the grocery bill,” he said.
However, Charlebois said Carney secretly removing many of the counter-tariffs in the middle of the election was a good economic decision that would relieve pressure on the supply chain.
Canada still has the second-highest food inflation rate among G7 nations, trailing only Japan.
Charlebois warned that “maplewashing” — placing Canadian banners on imported goods — risks undermining public trust and raising prices even more.
“As for Ottawa, symbols like ‘Elbows Up’ and ‘Canada’s Not For Sale’ may have mobilized support during a volatile political moment, but they should never substitute for sound economic governance. Rhetoric can only go so far — and, in some cases, it blinds policymakers to the very consequences of their actions,” he said.