New numbers from Statistics Canada show the year-over-year change for food prices saw a national increase of 3.4 per cent across the 10 provinces and three territories.

Jean Marc Leblanc, a father of four and a busy shopper, has noticed shrinkflation is now part of his shopping routine.

Based on his own estimate, Leblanc said, “I’m spending six dollars for that when it’s maybe 33 per cent less of a quantity.”

Leblanc was surprised to learn his home province of Nova Scotia was the lowest at 2.7 per cent.

“I find it hard to believe,” said Leblanc. “I have noticed a steady increase.”

Dalhousie University professor and food distribution researcher Sylvain Charlebois said the drop in gas prices have provided a level of financial support for remote areas like Nova Scotia, lowering the cost of transporting goods.

“I would say energy has not been an issue in the last two years,” said Charlebois, who added federal and provincial tax cuts, and the GST holiday also had an influence on food inflation rates, depending on the province. “Our break in Nova Scotia was 14 per cent, in New Brunswick it was 15 per cent and Ontario as well, but in some provinces, the break was only five per cent.”

According to Charlebois, the biggest challenge for regions like Atlantic Canada going forward are interprovincial trade barriers that have a direct impact on the cost of transporting food.

“Because you can’t really scale up some of the businesses you have here, and you can’t really think of going to Quebec or Ontario to get food from provincially licensed facilities,” said Charlebois.

The Statistics Canada report also showed grapes, berries, coffee and ground beef are increasing in cost monthly in all provinces, which makes shopper Mike Fifield skeptical when it comes to receiving good news related to inflation.

“Can you believe anything these days?” he said.

He anticipates food prices to climb even higher, and will continue to be a careful shopper, searching for the best bargains.

Canada Food Price Increase (May 2024 – May 2025)

New Brunswick: 3.7% Newfoundland and Labrador: 3.6% Ontario: 3.6% Saskatchewan: 3.5% Prince Edward Island: 3.4% Alberta: 3.3%British Columbia: 3.2%Quebec: 3.1%Manitoba: 3.0%Nova Scotia: 2.7%