Food Prices Fall in Canada for First Time in 8 Years, StatCan Numbers Show

A shopper browses in an aisle at a grocery store In Toronto on Feb. 2, 2024. The Canadian Press/Cole Burston

While inflation inched up, Canadian food prices fell in January for the first time since 2017, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9 percent year over year in January, StatCan said on Feb. 18. In December, the CPI saw a 1.8 percent increase.

Despite the increase, the CPI remains below the Bank of Canada’s target inflation rate of 2 percent.

While inflation was going up, food prices came down by 0.6 percent in January, according to StatCan numbers. It’s the first time the cost of food has fallen since May 2017, the agency said.

The decrease follows a 0.6 percent increase in food prices that StatCan reported in December 2024.

One of the contributing factors to January’s drop, StatCan said, was a 5.1 percent decline in food prices for restaurant meals. That record number was “more than triple the previous record decline of 1.6 percent in December 2024,” StatCan said.

Canadians also paid less for alcohol in January, with a 3.6 percent drop in the cost of liquor purchased in store, compared with January 2024. It also follows a 1.3 percent decline in alcoholic drink prices in December.

However, Canadians saw the cost of housing increase by 4.5 percent year over year, StatCan numbers show.

On top of that, transportation costs have also increased by 3.4 percent over January 2024.

Higher Energy Prices

While food costs dropped, Canadians saw an increase in energy costs, StatCan said.

“Energy prices rose 5.3 percent in January following a 1.0 percent increase in December, driven by higher prices for gasoline and natural gas,” StatCan said.

Prices at the pump increased 8.6 percent on a year-over-year basis in January. That’s up from a 3.5 percent increase in December.

On a year-over-year basis, prices for natural gas rose 4.8 percent in January, according to StatCan, after a 5.5 percent decline in December. However, month over month, natural gas prices jumped 6 percent.

B.C. saw the largest spike in energy prices at 12.8 percent. Meanwhile, drivers in Manitoba saw a 25.9 percent increase at the pump, which StatCan says was due to the re-introduction of the provincial gas tax in that province.

Vehicle Prices Rise

Prices for new vehicles went up by 2.3 percent year over year. In December, that number was 0.9 percent.

The cost of a used vehicle continued to drop in January by 3.4 percent. In December, that number was 4.1 percent.

It is the 13th consecutive month prices for used cars have dropped, StatCan said.