British Columbians will see significantly higher grocery bills in 2023, report says
There's no relief in sight from rising grocery bills in B.C., according a report released Monday.
According to Canada's Food Price Report for 2023, a family of four is expected to pay $1,065 more for groceries next year.
CTV News spoke to grocery shoppers in Metro Vancouver about how hard they are being hit by the rising costs.
"It makes me upset of course. I don't want to spend more money on stuff that was cheaper last year," said shopper Keith Bakker.
"My bill used to be $75 and now it's $150. And it sucks," said another shopper Pierce Redpath.
"A lot fewer items are coming home at a time and it's costing a lot more," added Mackenzie Gartner, another shopper.
And not one section of the grocery store has been spared from rising costs.
Grocery prices were up 11 per cent in October compared with a year before while overall food costs were up 10.1 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
Food prices in Canada will continue to climb in the New Year, with grocery costs forecast to rise up to seven per cent in 2023, new research predicts.
"Unfortunately being a senior on a fixed income ... there's things I can go without now," said shopper Ron Macbeth.
"I look at the price. If they're priced themselves out of my market, then yeah, I don't buy them," he continued.
Kelleen Wiseman, the UBC team lead for the report, said there are still ways to find cheaper groceries -- you just need to do a bit of digging.
"We live in the Lower Mainland. It has these discount stores and these very cool fruit and vegetable stores. There are some good products and good prices that are still to be had in those," she said.
With supply chain issues, cost is only one of the challenges facing grocery shoppers.
"'Shelflation' is when the shelf-life of a product is compromised by supply chain inefficiencies. So, delays at the border, the fact that there are breakdowns across the supply chain will actually offer consumers products that are not as fresh as they used to be," said Sylvain Charlebois, the lead author of the report and Dalhousie University professor of food distribution and policy.
"So when you buy a product, you go home. It won't last as long. You're basically forced to throw away that product which adds to your food bill," he added.
According to the report, multiple factors could influence food prices next year, including climate change, geopolitical conflicts, rising energy costs and the lingering effects of COVID-19.
But the good news is that the high prices are expected to level off by the second half of the year.
In the meantime, consumers are urged to shop wisely, look for sales and buy in bulk.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.