Travel & flight prices decline for 14th straight month: StatCan

Travel costs declined once more in August, according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index data.

Airline ticket prices were 7.6 per cent lower than in August of last year — the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decreases in air transportation costs, though the drop was smaller than in the previous three months, including a 10.6 per cent fall in July.

The last time Canadian airfares rose year over year was in June 2024, according to CPI records.

Compared with July, fares in August dropped 5.9 per cent, while the same period last year saw a larger 8.9 per cent slide.

Statistics Canada noted that package tours helped pull overall travel-service costs lower in August.

Prices for travel services fell 3.8 per cent from a year earlier, after a 1.2 per cent decline in July, while tour prices plunged 9.3 per cent annually, following July’s 1.7 per cent drop.

Growing interest in domestic vacations has boosted demand for local accommodations.

Nationally, lodging prices climbed 2.9 per cent in August after falling 2.7 per cent the month before.

Hotel rates jumped the most in Newfoundland and Labrador — up 30.9 per cent as the province hosted the Canada Summer Games — while Nova Scotia recorded the second-highest increase at 16.1 per cent.

Lower demand for U.S. destinations helped ease prices overall, Statistics Canada said, while rising accommodation costs softened the broader downward pull on travel prices.

Hotel prices expected to climb

Other studies released this week are shedding light on hotel prices – both here in Canada and abroad.

According to Amex GBT’s Hotel Monitor report, which looks at hotel rate forecasts worldwide, global hotel rates are expected to remain relatively stable through 2026, with geopolitical instability and uncertainty surrounding potential U.S. tariffs limiting demand and restricting sharp increases.

But Canada could see larger price increases than its southern neighbours; even with a growing supply of hotel rooms, our modelling indicates that rates for Toronto could rise by as much as +5.8 per cent, the report states.

That compares with increases of +4 per cent in New York, +3 per cent in Miami and Las Vegas, and +2 per cent in Mexico City.

Amex GBT reports that Vancouver is forecast for an even steeper increase of +6.2 per cent, while Montreal is projected to rise by +1.8 per cent.

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