Question Period Note: FOOD PRICES AND FOOD SECURITY

Q1 – What is the government doing to help Canadians weather the impacts of tariffs and trade uncertainty? Q2 – Do Canadians need to be worried about food supply? Q3 – What action is the Government taking to stop the persistent rise in grocery prices? Q4 – What is the Government doing to support Canadians who are struggling with food affordability and turning to food banks? Q5 – Responsive Only: What is the Government doing to address concerns that grocers’ profits remain high?

R.1 - We recognize that U.S. tariffs have created a period of significant uncertainty. As of September 1st, 2025, Canada's counter tariffs on U.S. imports in compliance with the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) were removed. We are committed to supporting farmers, businesses and Canadians to navigate the ongoing impacts of these shocks and will continue to provide robust economic support programs.
Canada has robust economic support programs available to help businesses and workers adjust to these shocks. In addition, the Government has put forth a long-term economic strategy in Budget 2025 to ensure Canada does not just withstand global shifts but is positioned as well as possible to prosper from them. R.2 - While recent U.S. trade actions are designed to hurt all Canadian production, including food, with some of the most productive agricultural land and farmers in the world Canada will continue to be a net exporter. Certain food imports may be more expensive, but our trade network can grow to meet these challenges. Canadians can further support our agriculture and agri-food sectors by looking for "Made in Canada" or "Product of Canada" labels, as well as their province’s buy local promotion program. R.3 - Grocery price inflation slowed to 2.2% in 2024, down from the recent high of 9.8% in 2022. While grocery price inflation has increased again in 2025, our government remains committed to ensuring a fair, transparent and competitive marketplace to make life more affordable for Canadians.
On December 15, 2023, Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, received Royal Assent. Amending the Competition Act, C-56 allowed the Competition Bureau to advance its investigations into large retailers’ use of anti-competitive restrictions, known as property controls, that impact competition in the retail sale of food products. On June 20, 2024, Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, received Royal Assent. It modernizes all aspects of the law to facilitate enforcement and increase competition to make life more affordable for Canadians. R.4 - On October 10th, the Prime Minister announced new measures to lower costs for Canadians, including making the National School Food Program permanent. The Program provides meals for up to 400,000 kids each year, ensuring kids are fed healthy meals at school and saving families with two children $800 per year on groceries.
The Government also announced the implementation of automatic deposits for federal benefits for the 2026 tax year, making it faster and easier for Canadians to get the federal benefits they are entitled to.
These actions build on previously introduced measures such as elimination of the consumer carbon tax, increases to the federal minimum wage, the Canada Child Benefit, Canada Workers Benefit, and Old Age Security. This is in addition to social programming that was previously announced, such as more affordable child-care and the development of a national dental care program. R.5 - The Government of Canada believes that competition is critical to ensuring a vibrant grocery sector. To this end, through the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, 2023 and the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, the Government introduced changes to the Competition Act to help promote competition in all markets, including food supply chains and retail grocery. This includes strengthening merger review to prevent undue market concentration, broadening the reach of the law in addressing abusive conduct by dominant players that stifles competition, as well as collaborative conduct.

Food Price Inflation
Consumer price inflation reflects the final price consumers pay, including discounts and taxes. According to the latest monthly Consumer Price Index data for October 2025, price increases for food purchased from stores (groceries) was 3.4%, above headline inflation (+2.2%). On a month-over-month basis, grocery prices fell 0.6% in October, the largest decline since September 2020 (-1.1%). However, though grocery prices decelerated in October, prices remained elevated and have exceeded overall inflation for nine consecutive months. Restaurant price inflation was 3.2%.

Year-over-year inflation varied across categories, including eggs (+3.2%), bakery products (+2.1%), dairy (+1.4%), fresh fruit (-0.8%), and fresh vegetables (-1.4%). Price changes varied across meat products, with higher inflation for beef (+16.8%) compared to chicken (+6.2%), processed meat (+5.5%), and pork (+4.4%). Price increases for edible fats and oils have continued to decline (-7.8%) after their consistent double-digit inflation over the past three years.

Grocery price increases varied across the country. Across the provinces, prices grew the slowest in Ontario (+2.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+3.3%). Prices rose the most in Saskatchewan (+4.7%). For the territorial capitals, prices grew faster in Whitehorse (+2.8%) than Yellowknife (+2.0%) and no data is available for Iqaluit.

As of September 2025 (latest comparable data), Canada’s grocery inflation was 4.0%, above the G7 average (+3.5%). Grocery (food) inflation was lower in France (+1.9%), the United States (+2.9%), Germany (+2.9%), and Italy (+3.7%) Over the same period, grocery inflation was higher in the United Kingdom (+4.5%), and Japan (+7.3%).

Chicken Prices
Chicken prices have emerged as a key issue following a recent article speculating about a 20–25% increase in 2026, a forecast that has since attracted significant media attention. As noted above, according to the latest CPI data, chicken prices were up 6.2% year-over-year. The article argues that a slow and disconnected supply management (SM) system did not stabilize supply as intended. However, Chicken Farmers of Canada, which is responsible for setting production targets, noted that recent supply challenges resulting from lower imports were due to avian influenza. Additionally, soaring beef prices have also been identified as a possible factor for increased demand for alternative protein sources, such as chicken. Canadian farmers are currently producing more chicken than ever — 2.7% more than last year—with higher production targets set for 2026. While supply management ensures that farmers are able to receive a fair return from the market that covers their costs of production, it is important to note that farmers do not set retail prices, which are determined by retailers and the broader marketplace.

2026 Food Price Forecast
Canada’s 16th annual Food Price Report, jointly developed by lead author Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and several Canadian universities (Dalhousie, Saint Mary’s, PEI, Cape Breton, Laval, Guelph, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia), projects that food prices will rise by between 4%-6% in 2026, costing a family of four almost $1000 more than last year.
Meat, largely driving by soaring beef prices, showed the highest inflation rate (+7.2%) of any food category in 2025. With cattle herds reaching their lowest number since 1988, persistent droughts in Western Canada limiting herd growth, and rising costs of feed, fuel and other inputs, there has been limited growth in Canada’s beef production.
Climate change and weather events have also become a growing concern for both domestic and global agricultural producers. Consumers in Canada have seen the cost of certain imports such as coffee and tea, cocoa and many fruits and vegetables, increase significantly due to weather-related challenges in other countries.
Overall, anticipated food price increases are attributed to a variety of factors including geopolitics, global weather events, policy enactment, consumer behaviours and changes in retail business models. Most notably in 2025, the trade dispute between Canada and the United States and subsequent policy changes as well as consumer-led movements altered the economic retail landscape, therefore impacting food price inflation. The report is a forecast based on the current and historical economic environment, and what actually transpires may be different.
Food Price Dynamics and Monitoring
Agricultural commodity prices tend to fluctuate more than grocery prices, and they are not tightly correlated. Preliminary research by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) shows that receipts for Canadian farm products represent about a fifth of final food costs for Canadians. As of 2021, about 81 cents of every dollar Canadians spend on food went to post-farm gate sectors, like transportation and retail. The farm share is higher for less processed foods (e.g. eggs, fruits and vegetables), compared to more processed foods (e.g. bread and soup) .
Consistent with Canada’s World Trade Organization commitments, provincial and federal governments deliberately have minimal direct involvement in managing food prices or production decisions in Canada. Their influence is mainly through measures to ensure an efficient and fair market, and by measures to mitigate the impact on vulnerable Canadians.
AAFC conducts analysis on supply and demand factors that influence food costs and availability along the entire agri-food supply chain. Various datasets are used by AAFC to monitor shocks across the sector.
Food Price Data Hub
Statistics Canada, in collaboration with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, developed the Food Price Data Hub to provide timely access to the information Canadians need to better understand food price fluctuations. The Food Price Data Hub (the Hub) uses existing data from the Agency which has been consolidated into a new, all-in-one tool to make it easier for Canadians to get an overall snapshot of food prices and trends.

Recent Announcements Related to Affordability
On October 10th, 2025, the Prime Minister announced new measures to lower costs for Canadians, including:
• Starting automatic deposits for federal benefits for the 2026 tax year that will reach up to 5.5 million low-income Canadians by the 2028 tax year. The CRA will automatically file these individuals’ taxes to ensure they receive government benefits they qualify for, such as the GST/HST credit, the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Disability Benefit, and more – including benefits that these Canadians may not be aware they are entitled to.
• Making the National School Food Program permanent to provide meals for up to 400,000 children. This program ensures kids are fed healthy meals at school and saves families with two children $800 per year on groceries. By making it permanent, the program will work with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to expand the program into more schools across Canada.

Previous Actions Related to Grocery Affordability
Between 2023 and 2025, the following initiatives related to grocery affordability were undertaken:
• Temporary GST/HST break from December 14, 2024, to February 15, 2025, making virtually all food, as well as purchases at restaurants, tax-free.
• Addressing shrinkflation through the Office of Consumer Affairs, which launched research projects to investigate price inflation and harmful business practices.
• Amending the Competition Act to enhance competition, including in the grocery sector, by giving power to the Competition Bureau to crack down on unfair practices.
• Launching a National School Food Program, to provide meals for up to 400,000 kids each year and fund infrastructure to support school food programming.
• Investing further in the Food Policy for Canada to strengthen Canada’s food systems including $62.9 million over three years to renew and expand the Local Food Infrastructure Fund.

Food Insecurity in Canada
Food insecurity is the inability to acquire or consume an adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of food or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so due to income. According to the 2023 Canadian Income Survey, 25.5% of people (10.0 million) reported living in food insecure households in 2023/24, up from 22.9% the previous year. Food insecurity is higher in the territories, with 37.4% of the population reporting food insecurity.
Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount 2025, a point in time snapshot, reported close to 2.2 million food bank visits in March 2025, up 5% from March 2024. The number of visits has doubled (up 99.4%) since March 2019. One third of visits were represented by children. Each ‘visit’ represents each person in the household, so a parent with two children would represent three visits. About 40% of households using food banks rely on social assistance as their main source of income, however, the share of households who rely on employment income has risen since the pandemic.
Food Sentiments in Canada
The Fall 2025 edition of the Canadian Food Sentiment Index, led by Dalhousie University, is a national survey on how Canadians think and feel about food affordability, access, and trust. The survey was released on November 20, 2025 and highlighted the fact that affordability remains the dominant concern, with a majority of Canadians reporting that they have changed how they shop, cook, or eat in order to cope with rising prices. Food continues to dominate household financial concerns across Canada, with more than four in five respondents citing it as their top expense pressure in the national survey. Though Canadians rank utilities, housing and household supplies among their top financial concerns, the impact of rising food prices surpasses that of the three categories combined. More optimistically, support for Canadian-grown and Canadian-made foods is on the rise, driven by both economic patriotism and a desire for higher perceived quality.
Trust in major food retailers also continues to erode, with Canadian consumers increasingly frustrated by a lack of transparency in how prices are set. This growing frustration is now prompting calls for stronger action across the supply chain. The National Farmers Union recently adopted nine resolutions, including plans to lobby the federal government to implement a cap on the profits of the major grocery store chains in the country.

Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food
• June 13, 2023: Tenth Report entitled Grocery Affordability: Examining Rising Food Costs in Canada, made 13 recommendations to address the impacts and drivers of food price inflation across the supply chain, including improving relations and competition across the food supply chain.
o October 5, 2023: the Government tabled its response

• May 23, 2024: Eighteenth Report entitled A Call to Action: How Government and Industry Can Fight Back Against Food Price Volatility, made 10 recommendations to address ongoing challenges in the Canadian food supply chain, including improving competition across the food supply chain and recommended actions to assist Canadians experiencing food insecurity.
o September 9, 2024: the Government tabled its response

Private Member’s Bill C-226, An Act To Establish A National Framework To Improve Food Price Transparency
Introduced by Liberal MP Gurbux Saini on May 26, 2025, Bill C-226’s primary focus is on improving food price transparency. The Minister of Industry has been identified as the lead for the Government.
The Private Member’s Bill requires that the Minister of Industry, in consultation with the representatives of provincial and territorial (PT) governments responsible for consumer affairs, develop a national framework respecting grocery pricing and unit price display practices to assist consumers in making informed decisions when purchasing food and other household goods.
Key provision requires the framework:
(a) to establish national standards for the grocery retail sector respecting
(i) unit pricing for food and other household goods, including the accuracy, usability and accessibility of unit price displays for consumers, and
(ii) transparency regarding price increases, adjustments and fluctuations; and
(b) to promote unit pricing education to consumers across Canada, including what unit prices are and how they are used.

Displaying Unit Pricing
Standard unit pricing is the act of displaying the price of a commodity at a standard unit of measurement adjacent to its selling price on retail store shelves and online. Unit pricing (e.g., $X.XX/per 100g) can help consumers discern which offering of a similar product is the least expensive.
The regulation of unit pricing falls under PT jurisdiction, with Quebec being the only province to have mandated standard unit pricing by law, which came into effect in Winter 2024.
Previous Private Member’s Bill

In June 2024, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor tabled Private Member’s Bill, C-406, An Act to establish a national framework to improve food price transparency, which is identical to the current PMB C-226. The bill was not selected for debate during the 44th Parliament, and MP MacGregor was not re-elected in the most recent federal election.

Current Legislative Status
The Bill was introduced and read for the first time in the House of Commons on Thursday, September 18th, 2025. The sponsor is currently at number 20 on the Order of Precedence and selected this Bill as his item for debate on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. The House will vote on the Bill following the second hour of debate at second reading. If the House votes in favour, it will be referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for detailed study.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is conducting detailed analysis to determine the full implications of the operationalization of the Bill.

· The Government of Canada recognizes that affordability remains a critical issue for Canadians. Recent reports even highlighted that food is Canadians’ top expense pressure, which is resulting in changes in their shopping and eating habits.

· While food prices remain high, we are encouraged to see that recent inflation data show the largest month-over-month decline in food prices since September 2020.

· On October 10th, the Government announced new measures to lower costs for Canadians, including making the National School Food Program permanent, which provides meals for up to 400,000 kids each year.

· We also remain committed to supporting and promoting Canadian products and will continue to help consumers more easily identify Canadian products when making purchases at the grocery store.

· These efforts build on previous actions that the Government has taken, including amendments to the Competition Act, to strengthen our food systems, and continued work on the Food Price Data Hub.