Canadians Spending Less on Food Despite Higher Prices, Report Finds

A worker walks around a Metro grocery store in Toronto, on July 18, 2023. The Canadian Press/Cole Burston

Canadians are spending less of their money on food compared to a year ago despite food inflation remaining high, according to a new report by Dalhousie University.

“Canadians are either wasting less or finding alternative ways to source food outside conventional channels like grocery stores, such as dollar stores and non-traditional grocery discounters,” said Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.

“Per capita food expenditures in our country have never been as low as they are now.”

While Canadians spent an average of $248 a month per person on food retail sales in January 2024, they spent an average of $258 in January 2023 and $282 in February 2017. According to Canada’s Food Price Report 2024, the average monthly expenditure for a healthy diet should be $339 per person.

“Until July 2021, Canadians were spending more on average than the desired budget to support a healthy diet. Since then, it has clearly been a challenge,” Mr. Charlebois said, adding that consumers are dealing with decreased wealth while facing higher food prices. He said approximately 18 percent of all current retail dollars go toward food, compared to 21 percent in 2017.

Illustrating the change is the prediction form the 2023 report that the total annual food expenditure for a family of four in 2024 would be $16,288.40 for a healthy diet. So far this year, however, the average family is on track to spend $15,595.40—$693 less despite higher food prices.

Statistics Canada said the country was facing “significant food inflation” in November 2023 with grocery prices rising more than all other items on the Consumer Price Index since 2021. But by February 2024, the agency found food price growth was easing slightly compared with a year earlier, rising at a rate of 2.4 percent compared to 3.4 percent in January 2023.

The population grew by 3 percent in 2023, but its gross domestic product increased by less than 1 percent, according to the report. Additionally, Mr. Charlebois said the GDP per capita between Canada and the United States widened by 106 percent since 2015, with Canada’s sitting at $55,000 compared to the U.S. at $83,000.

“In other words, despite our growing population, Canada is becoming poorer, not richer,” he said.

The federal carbon tax was also identified as a concern because it is increasing “without a clear understanding of its long-term effects on food prices,” Mr. Charlebois said.

A new model by Dalhousie University’s food analytics lab is projecting Canadian wholesale food prices will rise by 34 percent on average for all food categories by 2025. Mr. Charlebois cautioned that the University, which has been forecasting for 15 years, has occasionally been incorrect in its predictions.