Food Prices Fall in Canada for First Time in 8 Years, StatCan Numbers Show

While inflation inched up, Canadian food prices fell in January for the first time since 2017, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

While inflation was going up, food prices came down by 0.6 percent in January, according to StatCan numbers. It’s the first time the cost of food has fallen since May 2017, the agency said.

The decrease follows a 0.6 percent increase in food prices that StatCan reported in December 2024.

One of the contributing factors to January’s drop, StatCan said, was a 5.1 percent decline in food prices for restaurant meals. That record number was “more than triple the previous record decline of 1.6 percent in December 2024,” StatCan said.

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Canadians also paid less for alcohol in January, with a 3.6 percent drop in the cost of liquor purchased in store, compared with January 2024. It also follows a 1.3 percent decline in alcoholic drink prices in December.

However, Canadians saw the cost of housing increase by 4.5 percent year over year, StatCan numbers show.

On top of that,…