The Bank of Canada, which has a target range of 1 percent to 3 percent, expects total inflation will be below 1 percent for much of this year. Core inflation, which strips out volatile items and is closely watched by the central bank, edged down to an annualized 2.1 percent from 2.2 percent. Lower gasoline prices were the largest downward contributor for the consumer price index, falling 21.8 percent on a year-over-year basis, though that was not as steep as January's annual decline of 26.9 percent. Prices rose in seven of the index's eight major components, led by food and shelter costs. On a monthly basis, total inflation rose 0.9 percent, while core inflation was up 0.6 percent.