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A customer grocery shopping at Shoermarch\u00e9 PA on Fort Street in Montreal, Jan. 20, 2026. (Zachary Cheung, CityNews)<\/p>\nCanada\u2019s food prices are rising faster than in other major economies, prompting some experts to describe the country as the \u201cfood inflation capital of the G7.\u201d<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada reports food prices rose 6.2 per cent over the past year, the highest level since 2023. That increase is roughly double the rate seen in the United States.<\/p>\n
Rising grocery costs strain households<\/p>\n
Many Canadians say the rising cost of groceries is changing how they shop. Some are buying cheaper items than they did years ago, relying on sales flyers, visiting multiple stores, or reducing portion sizes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m buying stuff I used to buy in college and I\u2019m in my mid-30s now,\u201d one shopper in Montreal said. Another held up a sales flyer, calling it their \u201cbible\u201d for finding deals.<\/p>\n
A customer grocery shopping at Shoermarch\u00e9 PA on Fort Street in Montreal, Jan. 20, 2026. (Zachary Cheung, CityNews)<\/p>\n
Grocery store prices increased five per cent over the past year, while restaurant meals rose 8.5 per cent. Consumers report smaller portions and more comparison shopping to manage costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, yeah, I would say that,\u201d one customer said when asked if portions had shrunk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m using more stores now just to get better prices,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
Another shopper called rising food costs \u201ca scandal,\u201d adding that eating is, along with having a home, \u201cthe most essential need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada leads the G7 in food inflation<\/p>\n
Experts say those numbers are troubling on their own, but become even more concerning when compared with other G7 countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is absolutely unreal to see the U.S. with a food inflation that is half ours with a tariff-happy president that they have,\u201d said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University\u2019s Agri-Food Analytics Lab.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is now the food inflation capital of the G7.\u201d<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada says some of the sharpest increases came from everyday staples. Coffee prices rose nearly 30 per cent compared with last year, while beef prices climbed just under 17 per cent.<\/p>\n
Consumers say those increases are forcing difficult choices. \u201cThere\u2019s a myriad that I\u2019ve stopped buying, mostly meat, beef,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just picked up a cauliflower and I was shocked that it was $4.99,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
Others pointed to dairy and eggs as items they now avoid. \u201cI definitely avoid cheese now, and dairy products,\u201d one customer said. \u201cEggs, tremendously. I mean, really,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n
One shopper who said they avoid American products described the situation simply: \u201cIt makes me feel quite terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
GST holiday and global factors influence prices<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada says last year\u2019s GST holiday contributed to higher prices, particularly on items such as snack foods, chips and candy once the tax break ended.<\/p>\n
American tariffs, geopolitical conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, and broader global supply pressures have also played a role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main story for food is almost always weather,\u201d said Andrew Barclay, a senior economist with Statistics Canada\u2019s consumer price division. \u201cIt\u2019s only recently that we\u2019ve kind of seen geopolitics get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charlebois said food inflation would have been around 4.2 per cent without the GST holiday. \u201cThere\u2019s greed, absolutely. I do think that this is something we also need to think about with grocers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Transportation and infrastructure add to costs<\/p>\n
Experts say food prices reflect not only what consumers buy, but how those goods move through the supply chain.<\/p>\n
Transportation challenges can push prices higher, and Canada still faces infrastructure shortcomings. \u201cWith railways, there\u2019s derailments. (Our) ports are the least effective in the world,\u201d Charlebois said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not looking at a temporary or cyclical issue here. It\u2019s structural,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s food prices are rising faster than in other major economies, prompting some experts to describe the country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-423279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}