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Statistics Canada reported that the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 2.0% from August to September 2026 and was 14.5% higher than a year earlier. The Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI), which tracks prices manufacturers pay for raw materials, increased 4.8% month over month and 27.0% year over year. Both series are Canada-level indexes and were not seasonally adjusted. They measure different points in the production chain, so their rates should not be added or read as a single inflation figure.
Energy and petroleum products were the largest contributor to the IPPI’s monthly gain. That group rose 12.1% in September after a 3.7% increase in August. Within it, refined petroleum energy products advanced 13.7%; diesel prices rose 18.4%, finished motor gasoline 7.8% and light fuel oils 15.4%. Excluding energy and petroleum products, the IPPI increased 0.3%. Chemicals and chemical products rose 3.8%, including a 9.7% rise in petrochemicals and an 11.0% increase in plastic resins. These are price-index movements, not changes in production volume or retail pump prices.
The annual comparison was also heavily influenced by energy products. The IPPI’s 14.5% year-over-year increase marked a 24th consecutive annual rise. Diesel prices were 106.1% above September 2025, finished motor gasoline was up 45.3% and light fuel oils 99.4%, according to the release. Unwrought copper and copper alloys increased 46.3% year over year, while unwrought aluminum and its alloys rose 26.9%. These component changes contribute differently to the overall index; their percentages cannot be summed to recreate the headline rate.
On the input side, crude energy products drove the RMPI’s 4.8% monthly increase, rising 14.4%. Conventional crude oil was up 16.8% and synthetic crude oil 9.0%. In contrast, the RMPI excluding crude energy products fell 0.4% month over month. Crop products rose 2.1%, with canola up 3.7%; metal ores, concentrates and scrap declined 0.7%, and animal and animal products fell 1.1%, led by an 8.8% drop in hog prices. Year over year, crude energy products remained the largest contributor to the RMPI’s increase.
The distinction from consumer inflation is essential. IPPI records prices Canadian producers receive as goods leave the factory gate; it excludes indirect taxes and costs incurred after goods leave the plant, including transport, wholesale and retail costs. RMPI measures prices paid by Canadian manufacturers for selected raw materials, including charges to bring inputs to the establishment gate. Neither index is the Consumer Price Index or a direct measure of what households pay for fuel or finished goods.
Statistics Canada also began a staged transition to a new sample with the September reference month. The sample is based on annual manufactured-product sales and raw-material purchases reported by selected establishments in the 2022 Annual Survey of Manufacturing and Logging Industries. The transition is planned to reach all strata by the December 2026 reference month; values from the existing sample are not revised using the new sample. This methodological change is context for future comparisons, not an explanation for September’s price movements.