You can expect to dig quite a bit deeper in the new year to cover the cost of food.
According to Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, groceries will cost roughly $1,000 more- an exact increase of $994 – and for a family of four, groceries will cost about $17, 571.79.
Compared to five years ago, the cost of food has risen 27 per cent.
Dr. Stacey Taylor with the Dalhousie Agri-Foods Analytical Lab says there are several reasons for this.
“Climate change and supply chain issues. We also have the temporary foreign workers program, ” says Taylor. “There’s a lot of uncertainty as to what the US administration is going to do tariffs wise. We also have consumer choice.”
She adds, predicting what categories are likely to go up is also a difficult choice.
“Meat is one of them. So, from this year to last year, we’ve seen a big increase, particularly in beef. So, when we kind of zoom in on what the reasons are for the changes in beef, we see that it’s low cattle herds and droughts and increase in input costs like feed,” says Taylor.
Optimism
There are a lot of moving parts to the situation, so it’s quite challenging according to Taylor, with some unknowns; however, there could be a way out with new trade deals.
“I’m optimistic that things will start to stabilize through these partnerships. Particularly when we’re looking at beef, we’re trying to import beef from Australia and Mexico,” explains Taylor.
What is needed though, Taylor says, is a better understanding of how we can combat climate change and protect ourselves from that.
“We also need to see Ottawa, kind of take a look at what we’re doing, and take a look at the grocery code of conduct and try to make those partnerships,” says Taylor.
She says, buying in bulk and splitting it between a number of people, also helps.
“Everything counts at this point. “This is the time for us to pull together as a country.”
