Canadians in 'survival mode' as food expenses rise: report
Grocery bills are pushing many Canadians to the edge of their budgets, with 34% saying they are dipping into savings or borrowing money to buy food.
The finding comes from the spring 2026 edition of the bi-annual Canadian Food Sentiment Index, produced by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and supported by Caddle Insights. It also shows household food spending has climbed to an average of $519.96 per month, up 4.6% year over year.
That reliance on savings or credit is back at levels last seen in spring 2024, when the index was first launched.
“A lot of Canadians are almost in survival mode,” says Sylvain Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University and senior director of the lab. “The upswing in anxiety we’re seeing around food affordability is very similar to two years ago, when Canada had just come off the inflation storm from the Ukraine war.”
Charlebois notes this edition—conducted Feb. 23 and 24 among 3,000 Canadians—came less than a week before the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. “Canadians seemed aware there would be implications at the grocery store in the near term,” he says.
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That sense of pressure runs through the data, reflected across a range of food values and purchasing habits.
More than 81% of Canadians say food is the expense that increased the most over the past year, slightly higher than fall 2025.
“Affordability” continues to dominate purchase decisions, cited by 45.5% as the top food value, up a few points from both autumn and spring last year. It remains far ahead of other priorities. “Nutrition” is second at 24.9% (down from 28.8% in the fall), while “taste” holds steady between 15% and 18%. Other factors trail in the single digits, including “availability” at 5.6%, while “social responsibility” and “environmental impact” remain marginal at 3.1% and 2.4%.
There are, however, early signs of stabilization, with food inflation expectations beginning to settle into a more moderate range. The share of Canadians reporting price increases above 10% has fallen to 29.7%, while 31% now report increases in the 5% to 7% range, “signaling cautious optimism that price pressures are stabilizing, even if affordability remains a concern,” the report says. “Canadians are no longer bracing for runaway food inflation—they’re recalibrating.”
Grocery prices are emerging as a political flashpoint across North America, with the Canadian Food Sentiment Index tracking support for removing retail taxes on food to improve affordability . The index finds broad national support for the idea: 88% of Canadians either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree,” up from 85.8% a year ago. Support is also strengthening at the top end of the scale, with “strongly agree” responses rising sharply in Prince Edward Island to 94.7% from 66.8%, and also increasing in Quebec (61.3% from 54.2%) and Ontario (69.4% from 66.6%).
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Across Canada, most basic groceries are already exempt from GST/HST, although taxes still apply to prepared foods, baked goods, beverages and snack items. In July, Manitoba will become the only province to remove provincial sales tax from all grocery items.
Label effect
A new question in the spring 2026 index asked respondents to react to a front-of-package “high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium” label, made mandatory in Canada on Jan. 1, 2026, under Health Canada rules.
When shown the label, 63% of Canadians said they would be less likely to purchase products displaying it. By comparison, less than a quarter (22.8%) said it would have no impact.
The index shows the labels are already influencing purchase intentions at the point of sale, and may also be shaping perceptions of Health Canada, and other food-related government agencies.
READ: Front-of-package labels are already shaping shopper behaviour
Health Canada is now the most trusted food authority, with a score of 3.89, overtaking Canadian farmers (3.86) on a five-point scale where five represents “strongly trust” and one “strongly distrust.” The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was not far behind farmers, at 3.83, up from 3.45 in the fall.
“Even though Canadians are implicitly trusting of government, this is the first time ever Canadians have trusted bureaucrats more than farmers,” says Charlebois. Major grocers remain the least trusted group (3.03), while Canadian foods manufacturers and independent grocers finished in the mid-range (3.46 and 3.32, respectively).
