Claire Acorn’s grocery routine hasn’t changed much over the years.
The Prince Edward Island resident shops every two to three weeks and tends to stick to familiar foods. But even with those steady habits, she said rising prices are becoming harder to ignore.
“Oh, it hurts, yes. But what do you do?” she said. “I have to go along with the prices.”
Her daughter, Charlotte Acorn, has also noticed the rising cost of food, and has her own strategy to cope.
“We grow our own garden, so I don’t really have to get the vegetables,” Charlotte said, adding that in the summer she grows things like carrots, green beans, yellow beans and cucumbers, then preserves them for winter.
She also describes herself as “always a sale finder,” scanning shelves for discounts and checking other stores online.
LISTEN | Canadians look for ways to save on groceries:
Island Morning7:51Canadians look for ways to save on groceries
Two years after soaring grocery prices sparked concern across the country, many Canadians are developing new strategies to save money at the checkout. A new Dalhousie University survey looks at how people are feeling about food inflation. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, joins us to break down the findings.
Meat and fish, Charlotte said, often come from outside the big grocery chains. For example, she gets her fish from local markets and chicken from a grocer she knows.
“You do kind of have to adjust,” she said. “It’s not just an individual, it’s everybody.”
The mother-daughter pair’s approach — from tightening habits and watching for sales to accepting that food simply costs more — reflects a broader shift happening across Canada, according to a new national survey.
Researchers at Dalhousie University’s Agri‑Food Analytics Lab have just released the latest Canadian Food Sentiment Index, a twice‑yearly survey of 3,000 people across the country that tracks how Canadians are spending and coping at the grocery store.
The survey shows that when asked which household expense has risen the most in the past year, respondents ranked food at the top by a wide margin.
Sylvain Charlebois, the lab’s director, said the average household now spends about $600 a month on food, which he characterizes as on the low end. That figure climbs significantly for larger families.
“A family of four with growing kids will probably have to spend about $17,000 this year, based on what we’re forecasting when it comes to food inflation,” he said.
Canada’s food inflation rate is about two percentage points higher than general inflation and is the highest among G7 countries, says Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University’s Agri‑Food Analytics Lab. (Zoom)
About a third of respondents said they even had to draw on savings or borrow money to cover food costs over the past year.
Still, perceptions around food inflation appear to have softened, with many Canadians seeming to have accepted higher grocery prices as the new normal.
In fall 2024, 40.3 per cent of Canadians believed food prices had risen by more than 10 per cent over the previous year. By spring 2026, that figure had dropped to 29.7 per cent.
In its place, more respondents now estimate moderate increases — particularly in the five per cent to seven per cent range, which climbed from 20.4 per cent to 31 per cent over the same period.
“Overall, the data suggests that while food inflation is still widely felt, Canadians increasingly believe price increases are moderating,” the report reads.
Even so, food inflation remains elevated.
While overall inflation sat at about 2.4 per cent in March, grocery price inflation was significantly higher at 4.4 per cent.
“Canada’s food inflation rate is the highest among G7 countries,” Charlebois said.
He added that the ongoing war between Israel, the United States and Iran has driven up global fuel prices, and that will likely push food costs higher in the coming months.
Looking ahead, expectations for food inflation are also stabilizing.
Fewer Canadians now anticipate food inflation above 10 per cent in the coming year, with most expecting increases in the five to seven per cent range.
That’s a sign, the report suggests, of “cautious optimism that price pressures are stabilizing, even if affordability remains a concern.”
More strategic shopping
So how are Canadians coping? Mostly by hunting for deals and becoming more deliberate with each grocery trip.
Seeking out sales and discounts remains the most common response to rising prices, with about 44 per cent of respondents relying on promotions as of spring 2026.
Using coupons, searching online for better prices and shopping at cheaper stores are the next most common strategies.
Charlebois said more “trade-down” behaviour is also evident — choosing cheaper canned protein options like lentils, sardines and tuna instead of fresh meat, for example.
According to the survey, seeking out sales and discounts remains the most common strategy for Canadians coping with rising food costs. (Brett Ruskin/CBC)
Others are switching to generic brands, cutting back on non-essential items like ice cream or turning to food-rescue and surplus apps to save money.
“I would say that two years ago … people were absolutely showing up at the grocery store and they were just spending what they had,” Charlebois said.
“Now, people are a little bit more strategic. We actually feel that Canadians are much better equipped now.… We’re visiting more stores more often now, and that’s certainly a good thing for people on a tight budget.”
Charlebois said consumer behaviour is continuing to shift, with more shoppers willing to walk away from high prices. That’s a signal that is forcing the industry to respond.
“Walking away is a strong signal you can send to the market saying, well, that’s just not a price I’m willing to accept,” he said.
“The industry has adapted as a result. In other parts of the Atlantic, we’re seeing more independent stores emerging offering something unique and actually more affordable to people.”
