About 35 percent of Canadians are struggling to pay for groceries as inflation continues to push food prices higher, Statistics Canada representatives told MPs on a House of Commons committee.
“Since early 2021, higher prices for gasoline, shelter, food, and consumer durables like automobiles have put upward pressure on consumer inflation,” said Matthew MacDonald, assistant director of Statistics Canada’s Consumer Prices Division.
MacDonald was appearing before the Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture on March 6, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
MacDonald said that as inflation has “ramped up” across the country since 2022, many Canadians who were surveyed by the federal agency said they felt the pressure of rising prices in their grocery bills.
Statistics Canada representatives told the committee about respondents to the “Canadian Social Survey” questionnaires that found young families, renters, and unemployed individuals were hit hardest by food inflation.
“In the past 12 months how difficult or easy was it for your household to meet its financial needs in terms of transportation, housing, food, clothing and other necessary expenses?” the StatCan questionnaire asked.
About 35 percent of respondents said they were having financial difficulty in those areas—up from about 19 percent two years ago.
MacDonald noted that inflation had reached its highest point in Canada over the past four decades midway through 2022, peaking at just over 8 percent in June. He said that in January 2023, prices in every food category on a year-over-year basis rose even higher than they had been the year before. MacDonald listed food categories like meat, vegetables, dairy, and bakery products as examples.
“Canadians living across the country have been impacted by price inflation, albeit to varying degrees, depending on consumption patterns and supply chain challenges faced,” he said.
A StatCan report published in February said that around one-quarter of Canadians have reported such financial difficulty that they would be unable to cover an unexpected expense of $500 should it arise.
Furthermore, federal research conducted by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada found that almost 40 percent of Canadians are borrowing money to cover daily expenses like food and housing rental payments.
