“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

Among the G7 countries, Canada still posts the highest food inflation rate

Canada’s food inflation rate eased to 5.4% in February 2026, down from 7.3% previously. At first glance, this looks like progress. But the reality behind the numbers suggests Canadians shouldn’t celebrate just yet.

Food inflation remains 3.6 percentage points above overall inflation, which means groceries are still becoming more expensive faster than most other goods in the economy. While the pace of increase has slowed, the pressure on household budgets has not disappeared.

The latest numbers on inflation from Statistics Canada showing overall inflation dropping are already outdated.

The federal agency released its latest report on Monday morning showing the Consumer Price Index rose 1.8% in February compared to a year earlier.

Canada’s housing market is waking up for the spring selling season, but young prospective homebuyers would be justified to remain in a state of prolonged hibernation.

For over two years homes in much of the country have been getting more affordable, thanks to a mix of softer prices and, later, falling interest rates. The problem is that, for the most part, we are still nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels of affordability. With the exception of condos, owning a home remains far more expensive than it was before the last housing boom.

More Canadians are relying on credit to put food on the table — and sacrificing nutrition in the process — according to a new survey that shows how the strain of Canada’s affordability crisis is increasingly surfacing in grocery aisles.

A new survey from insolvency and debt relief firm Spergel finds that a majority of the 269 Canadians questioned said they had skipped meals or reduced portion sizes in the past six months due to financial pressure. Fifty three per cent of the respondents, who were between the ages of 30 and 60, reported using credit, buy-now-pay-later services, lines of credit or payday loans to purchase groceries in the last six months.

With Tuesday’s release of new data from Statistics Canada, the conclusion is unequivocal: for the second consecutive month, Canada is posting the highest food inflation rate among G7 countries. Food inflation now stands at 7.3%.

Beef, nuts, pork, and even chicken are between 5% and 7% more expensive than a year ago. The only relief comes from eggs and fresh fruit, which are cheaper on a year-over-year basis.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is embracing the politics of economic tinkering, offering a rebranded, narrowly targeted GST credit top-up when Canadians need broad, structural relief. While the government says it is responding to the affordability crisis, modest tweaks to the GST credit will not deliver the kind of meaningful, universal relief that cutting income taxes would.