Nov 5, 2026
For many Canadian households, monthly spending follows a clear pecking order. Rent or the mortgage gets paid first because it has to. Groceries get the leftovers — and lately, there isn’t much left.
That squeeze is now showing up at the dinner table. Nearly a third of Canadians now skip meals to afford groceries — a four-year high in national tracking.
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Food is the easiest line to trim because it doesn’t come with a late fee or an eviction notice. But skipping meals is an expensive way to balance a budget. There are better ways to protect your grocery money, and some come with government dollars attached.
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How much of your paycheque is housing really taking?
How much of your take-home pay is actually going to shelter? For a lot of Canadians, it’s more than half. According to The Salvation Army’s 2026 Canadian Poverty and Socioeconomic Analysis, an annual survey from the country’s largest non-governmental direct provider of social services, 24% of Canadians spend at least half their after-tax household income on housing.
There’s little room to maneuver, either. Half of those surveyed aren’t confident they could find another suitable, affordable home in their community if they had to move, and 84% cite high rents or home prices as a barrier.
For context, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Canada’s federal housing agency, defines affordable housing as shelter costs totalling less than 30% of gross household income. At 50% of after-tax income, the math rarely works without cuts somewhere else.
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Why is food the first thing to go?
So why does food take the hit? Groceries are flexible and rent isn’t. Survey results show that 31% of Canadians skipped or reduced meals due to grocery costs, rising from 27% in 2025. Concurrently, use of community food support services grew from 11% to 15%.
Younger adults are feeling it most. Young adults face disproportionate pressure, with 41% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 skipping or downsizing meals and 23% accessing community food programs.
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Grocery inflation has slowed. Food purchased from stores rose 1.7% year over year in September, the smallest annual increase since May 2024, according to Statistics Canada. But cooling inflation isn’t the same as cheaper groceries. Food costs about 27% more than it did five years ago, according to Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, an annual forecast from Dalhousie University and partner universities. The report projects annual food costs could hit $17,571.79 for a family of four this year.
Could a federal benefit be covering more of your grocery bill?
If you earn a modest income, federal benefits can help significantly — but only if you file your taxes. In July, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) replaced the GST/HST credit, and payments are 25% higher for five years, through 2031.
Your quarterly, tax-free benefit from July 2026 to June 2027 is based entirely on your 2025 tax return. The CRA says you could get up to:
- $679 if you’re single
- $890 if you’re married or living common-law
- $234 for each eligible child under 19
No application is needed: the CRA automatically assesses your eligibility when you file your taxes. That’s why filing matters even if you earned little or nothing. And young adults turning 19 need to file their previous year’s taxes to unlock these payments.
How can you stretch your grocery budget without skipping meals?
Budget by the week
Rent is monthly, but groceries are easier to control weekly. A weekly number helps you spot overspending before the month is gone.
Shop your kitchen first
Cook from your pantry and freezer first, then use weekly flyers to fill the gaps. Compare unit prices on the shelf tag rather than the package price.
Trade down, not out
Store brands, frozen veggies, eggs, oats and lentils give you cheap, filling meals without sacrificing nutrition. Swapping cheaper ingredients in beats removing meals.
Watch convenience creep
Takeout and convenience foods drain a food budget faster than anything else. Canada’s Food Price Report forecast restaurant prices would rise 4% to 6% this year.
What to do now
- If housing claims 50% or more of your take-home pay, groceries need a dedicated plan — not just whatever is left over
- Sign in to your CRA account to check your CGEB amount and next payment date
- File your tax return every year, even if you have little or no income
- Set a weekly grocery number and track it for four weeks
- If you’re skipping meals, contact a local food bank or call 211 to find community supports
Asking for help isn’t a budgeting failure. Fully 83% of people surveyed by The Salvation Army said accessing support services directly improved their family’s wellbeing. National spokesperson Glenn van Gulik says making ends meet is no longer just about trimming extras: “It’s about making difficult choices between food, housing and other basic necessities.”
Survey methodology
The Salvation Army’s 2026 Canadian Poverty and Socioeconomic Analysis was conducted by Edelman Intelligence from Sept. 11 to 18, 2026, among a nationally representative sample of 1,525 Canadians who are members of the online Angus Reid Forum. Results were balanced and weighted by age, gender and region. The sample included 180 current and past users of Salvation Army services. Residents of Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut were not included. A margin of error cannot be calculated for a non-probability sample. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of 1,525 respondents would carry a margin of error of about +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
