P.E.I. families of 4 will pay roughly $800 more on groceries in 2025

Families of four in Prince Edward Island can expect to pay up to $800 more on food in 2025, according to the latest edition of Canada's Food Price Report, and food prices in the country will increase from three to five per cent next year.

Sylvain Charlebois, the lead author of the report, from Dalhousie University, said in an interview with Compass' Louise Martin Thursday that P.E.I. families will pay the average of roughly $800 more during the year — which he said is "somewhat good news."

"For the Atlantic and Quebec, we are expecting the food inflation to be higher than average, except for P.E.I.," he said.

"When you go to P.E.I., you realize that everything is grown on the Island, and that brings stability to the entire food system. And I think it's really helpful, and that's not something you see [in] either Nova Scotia or even in New Brunswick."

Norma Dingwell, the manager of the Southern Kings and Queens Food Bank in Montague, said the rise in food prices so far has been alarming, with the food bank spending roughly $132,000 on food in 2023.

While the cost for 2024 has yet to be determined, Dingwell said she knows they will spend more than last year.

She said the food bank sees on average between 60 and 85 people in a week, ranging from newborns in their parents' arms to seniors in their 90s. 

She said if the cost of food continues to go up, it will affect the food bank's budget, and they won't be able to help as many families.

"We can't keep affording to spend that much money on food," Dingwell said. "Food banks are going to go bankrupt."

Dingwell said the need is growing because expenses like rent and insurance take up so much of people's paycheques that many don't have a lot of money left for food, which results in them coming to the food bank.

"We are living in a province where we have potatoes, we have all kinds of veggies… milk and cheese," she said. "We shouldn't have to pay that much money for a necessity, right?"

Drilling down on the Canadian food price increases, Charlebois said Canadians part of the blame for a more challenging year will rest with meat and vegetable prices.

"When you look at the meat trifecta — beef, chicken, pork — all three of them [are] more likely to increase their price," he said.

As for vegetable prices, Charlebois said imports are sensitive to changes in the relative value of the Canadian and American dollars. When interest rates drop, the Canadian currency tends to follow suit, meaning grocers who import produce from the U.S. into Canada get less for their money. That translates into higher prices at the checkout.