Woman with groceriesCanadian grocery bills may climb again in 2026, with higher meat prices expected to be a key driver, according to a new national forecast. Researchers behind Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 estimate that overall food prices could increase between 4% and 6% next year. Beef prices, in particular, are expected to rise sharply, putting pressure on household budgets and pushing up costs across the meat aisle (1). “We’re expecting another difficult year due to beef prices and, because people are pivoting towards chicken, chicken prices are also on the rise,” Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and lead author of the report, told CBC News (2). Canadians already feeling the strainWith food prices trending upward for several years, many Canadians say they are already changing how they shop and eat.

Source: CBC News December 29, 2025 12:45 UTC