Canadian Grocery Prices Up 31.5% Since 2020, Outpacing Overall Inflation

How the Cost of Groceries Has Changed in Canada Since 2020

Groceries have become dramatically more expensive in Canada since the start of the pandemic — outpacing already-elevated overall inflation. Drawing on StatCan Table 18-10-0004 (Consumer Price Index, monthly) and StatCan Table 18-10-0245 (Monthly average retail prices for selected products), here's what the data shows.

The headline: groceries are up ~31.5% since January 2020

Category Jan 2020 CPI Mar 2026 CPI Total change

Food purchased from stores (groceries) 151.6 199.4 +31.5%

Food purchased from restaurants 158.2 205.6 +30.0%

All-items CPI (overall inflation) 136.8 167.4 +22.4%

Grocery prices have risen roughly 9 percentage points faster than the overall cost of living over this period. A grocery basket that cost $200 in January 2020 now costs about $263 .

Year-over-year grocery inflation tells the story of when prices spiked:

- Grocery inflation accelerated through 2021 and peaked at 11.4% YoY in November 2022 — the highest rate in over 40 years.

- Throughout 2022 and most of 2023, groceries rose roughly twice as fast as overall CPI .

- It has since cooled to 4.4% YoY as of March 2026 , but that's still well above the Bank of Canada's 2% target and the current 2.4% headline rate — meaning groceries are still getting more expensive faster than other things.

Inflation hit very unevenly across the grocery aisle (Table 18-10-0004):

In dollars: actual shelf prices for everyday staples

The CPI is an index, but Table 18-10-0245 tracks the actual average retail price Canadians pay. The differences are striking:

Ground beef nearly doubled in price — a far larger jump than the meat-category CPI suggests, partly because beef rose faster than other meats. A few items (notably potatoes and field tomatoes) actually became cheaper in nominal terms, showing that the grocery-inflation story isn't uniform.

Since January 2020, Canadian groceries have risen about 31–32% on average , with the steepest climb between mid-2021 and late 2023, peaking at 11.4% YoY in November 2022 (Table 18-10-0004). The pain has been worst on animal-protein and dairy aisles — meat, eggs, and butter — and on packaged beverages. Inflation has slowed but not reversed: as of March 2026, groceries are still rising at 4.4% per year , nearly double the overall inflation rate, meaning real grocery costs continue to creep upward even as the broader inflation crisis has eased.

Sources: Statistics Canada Table 18-10-0004 (Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted) and Table 18-10-0245 (Monthly average retail prices for selected products).