The cost of living in Canada went up by 1.3% in the 12 months leading up to September, up from 1.1% the previous month.
Figures released Friday by Statistics Canada showed that food prices put the brakes on the climb, as the food index posted its smallest year-over-year gain since February 2000.
Food prices had risen sharply since the middle of 2015 due to the plunging Canadian dollar increasing costs for a whole host of imported produce.
But that trend has largely stabilized now as the loonie has found a range of around 75 cents against its American counterparts. So food price hikes have cooled and in some cases reversed.
The agency reports prices for food purchased in stores are now as cheap as they were in January 2015, down 0.9% in past 12 months.
Gasoline is also getting cheaper. Pump prices were 7.9% lower in September than they were the same month a year earlier.
Inflation moved up in every Canadian province, but by a smaller amount in only two provinces — Alberta and British Columbia.
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