5 Londoners share their thoughts on the federal grocery rebate

As some Canadians began receiving their one-time federal grocery rebate, Londoners were talking about the high price of food and whether the cash infusion would help them get food for the month. 

"There's a lot going on in our economy and this is a little bandage," said Elena Pecora, a newly-single senior. "It would be nice if it were more, but it's extremely helpful." 

Price inflation and fixing has been hitting her hard, she said. "It's a little bandage on a huge problem, and it's a problem that needs a solution. We need to tax the rich and stop corporations running the world," said Pecora. 

We spoke to other Londoners. Here's what they had to say. 

"I've got a lot of condiments, things that I've run low on so I decided today would be a good opportunity to stock up. I've got Uncle Ben's Rice and a bunch of juice because I have grandbabies who like to come," Savoie said of her grocery haul. 

The first thing she did Wednesday morning was check her bank account, and got an extra $130. "It was very nice, let me tell you. I was quite pleased," Savoie said. "I'm not going to lie, I did a happy dance in my living room." 

Usually, Savoie doesn't stock up on meat, but did with the rebate cheque, including ribs, chicken, ground beef and a family pack of pork chops. 

"When you're looking at the price of bread, two loaves of bread are $7. It's ridiculous. I need to go to Dollarama to get other things that are cheaper," she said, adding that it would be helpful if the rebate happened more than once a year. 

"I'm grateful, but it would be nice to be able to stock up a couple times a year." 

"I was waking up expecting it, hoping to get some groceries with it, but I didn't get anything," George said. 

He would have gotten fresh fruit and vegetables if he had gotten the rebate, he said. "Inflation is crazy. You can't go anywhere because of prices," he said. "I'm going to parks more, taking walks, doing things for free." 

George has been buying in bulk and frozen to save money on groceries, he said. 

"It was money I didn't expect to be there," said Littleton, who had no idea that the federal grocery rebate was coming. "I didn't know what it was, I asked the guy at the bank what it was all about." 

There were others at the bank who were pleasantly surprised by the rebate too, Littleton said. It came the same day many Canadians were getting their GST rebate, so they were already looking at their bank account expecting a little extra cash.