Canada's ongoing food affordability crisis continues to pressure households nationwide, with new data revealing particularly troubling conditions in the Prairie provinces where nearly half of families require financial assistance just to put food on the table.
Prairie Provinces Bear the Brunt of Food Crisis
The latest Canadian Food Sentiment Index for Fall 2025, conducted by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in partnership with Caddle, shows that while fewer Canadians are dipping into savings or borrowing money for groceries compared to last fall, the situation remains dire in specific regions.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba report the most severe conditions, with up to 44 percent of households requiring financial support to purchase food. This stark regional disparity highlights how geographic factors continue to influence the affordability crisis across the country.
National Food Stress Reaches Record Levels
According to the research released in late November 2025, food remains the dominant financial stressor for Canadian families. More than four out of five respondents identified food as the expense that has increased the most over the past year, surpassing utilities, housing, transportation, and all other categories.
The PROOF research initiative reveals that 25.5 percent of Canadian households now experience food insecurity, marking the highest level ever recorded in the country. This troubling statistic presents a significant challenge for a G7 nation with Canada's economic standing.
Changing Consumer Habits Reflect Deepening Crisis
Canadian shoppers have adopted increasingly frugal behaviors in response to persistent price pressures. Nearly half of all consumers actively seek out more sales and discounts, while store-brand products experience surging popularity.
Other significant behavioral changes include switching to cheaper brands, frequenting discount stores more often, and cutting back on non-essential items such as premium meats and ice cream. Coupon use remains widespread, and dining out has transformed into a luxury expense for many families.
Almost one-third of Canadians now spend less than $50 monthly on restaurants or takeout, indicating how dramatically food purchasing patterns have shifted. The constant pursuit of savings has become an exhausting daily reality for numerous households.
While New Brunswick stands out for worsening conditions despite small improvements in other provinces, the overall picture suggests that official inflation data doesn't align with most Canadians' lived experience at the checkout counter.
