A family of four in Canada is projected to spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026, or roughly $1,464 a month. That is up to $994.63 more than in 2025. The projection comes from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab in Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 (published 2025-12-04), and the total covers groceries and some restaurant meals, not groceries alone.
How much does a family of four spend on food in Canada?
The report’s figures combine several spending categories, so they set a national reference point rather than a grocery-only budget.
| Item | Figure from the report |
|---|---|
| Projected annual food spending, family of four, 2026 | $17,571.79 |
| Increase compared with 2025 | Up to $994.63 |
| Monthly equivalent | About $1,464 |
| Expected rise in overall food prices, 2026 | 4% to 6% |
The annual total includes restaurant meals, so a grocery-only budget will be lower. The report does not split the total between groceries and restaurants, so a household that wants a grocery figure needs to track its own receipts over a few months. The report offers no grocery-only benchmark to compare against.
The report also forecasts that food prices will rise above the national average in 2026 in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. A household in one of these provinces may see an increase above the national average, but the source gives no province-specific figure.
To adjust a monthly food line, apply the expected 4% to 6% range to last year’s actual spending for the same categories, then review the result after three months of actual receipts.
What the 2026 Food Price Report Projects
Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab (dated 2025-12-04), projects that a family of four will spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026. That is up to $994.63 more than in 2025, or about $1,464 a month. The total covers groceries and some restaurant meals, so it is a broader food figure than a grocery-only budget.
| Indicator | Figure in the report |
|---|---|
| Projected annual food spend, family of four | About $17,571.79 |
| Increase compared with 2025 | Up to $994.63 |
| Approximate monthly equivalent | About $1,464 |
| Expected rise in overall food prices in 2026 | 4% to 6% |
| Provinces forecast above the national average | Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec |
The report gives a national projection, so the national average is a reference point rather than a figure for every household. The five provinces listed above are forecast to see food price increases above that national average. The report does not give a separate percentage for them, so a household in one of these provinces should compare its own food line with the 4% to 6% national range and review actual receipts over time.
To apply the range to your own budget, follow these steps:
- Separate your current monthly grocery spending from restaurant and takeaway spending, since the report’s total mixes both.
- Take your current monthly grocery total and multiply it by 1.04 (low end) and by 1.06 (high end).
- Use the two results as a planning band for the coming year, and review it against your actual receipts after a few months.
Grocery-only vs total food spending: what’s the difference?
A family food budget and a grocery budget are not the same number. The Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab projects that a family of four will spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026. That total covers groceries and some restaurant meals, so grocery spending alone is lower than the headline figure. Any comparison should start by confirming which costs are included.
| Measure (2026 projection) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total food spending, family of four | About $17,571.79 a year |
| Increase compared with 2025 | Up to $994.63 |
| Monthly equivalent | About $1,464 |
| Forecast change in overall food prices | 4% to 6% |
The report gives only the combined figure, so it cannot be split into grocery and restaurant amounts. To measure your own grocery share, use the method below rather than the report’s total.
- Set the scope. Decide whether your budget line covers only supermarket purchases or also restaurant meals, takeout and delivery.
- Collect one month of receipts. Include grocery receipts from every store and any card statement lines for food service.
- Split the totals. Put grocery purchases in one column and restaurant or takeout spending in another.
- Compare like with like. Match your grocery-only total against a grocery-only benchmark, and your full food total against the all-in figure.
The report also expects provincial differences. Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec are forecast to see food price increases above the national average in 2026. The source does not give province-level amounts, so households in those provinces may see food prices rise faster than the national average, without a specific figure to plan against.
Differences between provinces and cities
The Dalhousie University Agri-Food Analytics Lab’s Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 (published 2025-12-04) gives one national figure: a family of four will spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026, or roughly $1,464 a month. The report does not provide a provincial or city-level dollar amount in the data available here, so a household cannot read its own local budget directly from that national number.
The report does identify where price pressure is expected to be strongest. Five provinces are forecast to see food price increases above the national average in 2026:
- Alberta
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Quebec
The national outlook is a rise of 4% to 6% in overall food prices. For a household in one of these five provinces, the expected increase sits above that national average, so the same basket of groceries would likely cost more than the national trend implies.
Local monthly check: To measure your own situation, add up one full month of grocery receipts, including delivery and pickup fees, to get your household’s monthly grocery total. Compare that total with the national estimate, but only after adjusting for scope: the $1,464 monthly figure also includes some restaurant meals, so a grocery-only total will naturally be lower.
Tracking over time: Repeat the same calculation each month for the same store list. A rise in your own total is easier to attribute to local prices or to changes in your shopping habits when the store mix stays constant.
What the 2026 forecast means for your food budget
The Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 is a forecast: a family of four is projected to spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026, which is up to $994.63 more than in 2025, or about $1,464 per month. That total covers groceries and some restaurant meals, so it is a broader figure than a grocery-only budget.
| Indicator (2026 forecast) | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Family of four, total food spending | $17,571.79 per year | Dalhousie University (Agri-Food Analytics Lab), 2025-12-04 |
| Increase versus 2025 | $994.63 | Same report |
| Monthly equivalent | About $1,464 | Same report |
| Expected rise in overall food prices | 4% to 6% | Same report |
The report forecasts that food price increases in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec will be above the national average in 2026. It does not quantify that gap, so the national 4% to 6% range is the only published band for planning.
To use these figures in a budget:
- Start from the national range. Multiply your current annual food spending by 1.04 and 1.06 to get a low and high estimate for 2026.
- Separate groceries from restaurant spending. The forecast includes both, so compare your grocery receipts only with the grocery portion of your own records.
- Review the estimate after the next data release. The report is dated 2025-12-04 and is a projection; actual price movements can differ.
How to set a monthly grocery budget
A monthly grocery budget for a family of four starts from a published benchmark. The Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 from Dalhousie University (Agri-Food Analytics Lab, 2025-12-04) projects that a family of four will spend about $17,571.79 on food in 2026, which is about $1,464 a month. That total includes groceries and some restaurant meals, so it is a food benchmark, not a pure grocery figure. Use it as a reference point, then adjust it to your own household.
Step 1: Separate groceries from restaurant spending. Remove restaurant and takeaway costs from your food total before you set the grocery line. Otherwise you will count the same money twice.
Step 2: Convert annual figures to monthly. Divide any annual food estimate by 12. The report’s annual figure gives the monthly equivalent shown below.
Step 3: Apply the forecast increase to last year’s actual spending. The report expects overall food prices to rise 4% to 6% in 2026. Take your own 2025 monthly grocery total and add 4% and 6% to see a likely range for 2026.
Step 4: Check the regional forecast. The report forecasts that food price increases in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec will be above the national average in 2026. It gives no figure for those provinces, so households there should use the national 4% to 6% range as a reference, keep in mind that their local increase may be higher, and check their own receipts more often.
| Figure | Value | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Annual food spend, family of four, 2026 | $17,571.79 | Report projection |
| Increase over 2025 | Up to $994.63 | Report projection |
| Monthly equivalent | About $1,464 | Annual figure ÷ 12 |
| Expected overall food price rise, 2026 | 4% to 6% | Report projection |
Where to find official data
The household figures in this article come from Canada’s Food Price Report 2026, published by Dalhousie University (Agri-Food Analytics Lab) on 2025-12-04. The report’s values are forecasts for 2026, not recorded spending, so they should be cited as projections.
To check a figure before using it in a household budget:
- Confirm the publisher, the report title and the publication date.
- Read each number as a projection for the stated year, not as an actual result for a past year.
- Check the scope. The family-of-four total includes groceries and some restaurant meals, so a grocery-only budget will be lower than the headline figure.
- Check the geography. The figures are national. The report names five provinces expected to see food price increases above the national average in 2026: Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.
- Use the 4% to 6% price forecast as stated in the report, and apply it to your own spending records rather than deriving a rate from the total.
| Item (Canada, 2026 forecast) | Figure | Source date |
|---|---|---|
| Projected food spending, family of four | $17,571.79 (about $1,464 a month) | 2025-12-04 |
| Increase compared with 2025 | up to $994.63 more | 2025-12-04 |
| Expected rise in overall food prices | 4% to 6% | 2025-12-04 |
When a figure is copied into a budget sheet, the publication date and the scope (groceries only, or groceries plus restaurant meals) should be recorded alongside it. Without those two labels, a national forecast is easy to mistake for a personal cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is $1,464 a month what a family of four spends on groceries in Canada?
No. The report’s figure of about $1,464 a month (roughly $17,571.79 a year, in Canadian dollars) is a projection of total food spending, which includes some restaurant meals. Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 from Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab, published 2025-12-04, does not give a grocery-only amount.
How much will food prices rise in 2026, and does that differ by province?
The report expects overall food prices to rise 4% to 6% in 2026. Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec are forecast to see increases above the national average, but the report does not publish a province-specific percentage.
How can I compare my own household with the projection?
Add up a full month of food spending, including restaurant and takeout orders, and set it against the $1,464 monthly figure, since the report counts both. Repeat this over a few months, because one month can be distorted by a single large shopping trip or event.
