The Trudeau government has failed to counter rising food costs, amid deteriorating household finances across the board. “Food prices are one of the most significant sources of stress for Canadians today,” reads a press release from the Agri-Food Analytics Laboratory. 

Following a one-time rebate for lower-income Canadians, last year, enthusiasm for meaningful tax relief has risen to new heights.

Bill C-78, An Act Respecting Temporary Cost Of Living Relief, proposed a 60-day GST holiday on select food items to address affordability concerns. However, most groceries are already tax-free, a witness told the Senate National Finance Committee. 

Experts cite international events like the Russian-Ukraine war as a driver of food inflation and the Canadian dollar's lesser value than the U.S. dollar.

MORE: https://t.co/wy7s0bRrTz pic.twitter.com/lIZpPr65pg

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) July 12, 2023

The proposed “GST holiday” will save the typical Canadian $4.51, according to Professor Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Laboratory. He called the savings a “political measure” that appears to have angered business owners without meaningful gains.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet estimated GST relief will cost taxpayers $1.6 billion, reported Blacklock’s.

On Thursday, the same day as Charlebois’s testimony, the Agri-Food Analytics Laboratory unveiled the 2025 Food Price Report. It expects moderate food inflation will remain a challenge for Canadians well into next year, exceeding no more than 5%.

Food inflation is currently running at 2.8%. 

It is reported that only 25% of Canadians are eating the recommended daily minimums as food affordability soars with inflation sweeping the nation.https://t.co/EBFSTeVOxD

— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) June 30, 2023

The cost of feeding a typical family of four will go up several hundred dollars next year, said the Food Price Report. “Looking ahead to 2025 we are expecting a family of four with the same demographic makeup to spend $16,833.67,” it said.

Food prices are influenced by a variety of global factors, including geopolitical conflicts, energy costs, inflation, policies and regulations, said the Food Laboratory. Experts cite international events like the Ukraine war as a driver of food inflation, as well the lesser value of the Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar.

According to the 2024 Food Price Report, groceries cost Canadian families $16,297 this year, on average. Food costs have increased for several years now, from $15,232.81 in 2022 to $16,288.41 last year.

A prior Leger survey found that 26% of Canadians believe food inflation is mostly due to economic factors, and that it continues to worsen. However, one in five blamed the federal government for the affordability crisis.

The average family spends more on taxes (43.0%) than it does on basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing combined (35.6%), according to a recent Fraser Institute report. There has also been a steady increase in taxation in recent years, with noticeable jumps in 2022 and 2023.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened to tax Canadian grocers last September 14 in a bid to lower costs for families. “Large grocery chains are making record profits,” he claimed at the time. “Those profits should not be made on the backs of people struggling to feed their families.”

Parliament earlier proposed an excess profits tax on grocers, after testimony from economists and large-scale retailers at the Commons agriculture committee. Grocers denied profiteering on food inflation, while economists had varied opinions.

“Another tax won't make groceries more affordable, it'll make them more expensive,” said Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Instead of hammering Canadians with a grocery tax, Trudeau should scrap his carbon tax,” he added.

According to the Léger poll, half (50%) of all respondents would have preferred a two-month holiday of the carbon tax over “temporary GST relief.” More than two-thirds (70%) believed the GST holiday and $250 cheque “are only electoral measures to get people’s vote.”

Prime Minister Trudeau says he's giving major grocery retailers until Thanksgiving to come to Ottawa and explain what they're doing to stabilize/lower food costs.

If the grocers don't act, Trudeau says "the federal government will take action." pic.twitter.com/XA43srPPk5

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 14, 2023

Privy Council research described federal measures as “insufficient” and “late.” Though lower-income Canadians received a one-time grocery rebate last fall, the Trudeau government did not announce subsequent measures.

As a result, the Food Banks Canada Hunger Count reported two million food bank visits, a new record, and a noticeable 90% increase from 2019. Almost a quarter (23%) of Canadians will rely on food banks to eat this fall and winter, according to Statistics Canada. The rate in 2021 was 20%.

“That means 8.7 million people, including 2.1 million children, struggle to afford the food they need,” said the Food Laboratory.

Reliance on food banks was even higher among low income households, reported Blacklock’s. Forty-two percent of low income Canadians have likely accessed a food bank, so far, this fall.

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