Question 1

Where does this data come from?

Accepted Answer

All prices are sourced from Statistics Canada. The 1995 to 2016 values come from Table 18-10-0002-01 ("Monthly average retail prices for food and other selected products"), which was terminated in early 2022. The 2017 to 2025 values come from its successor, Table 18-10-0245-01 ("Monthly average retail prices for selected products"), which is still actively updated. Both tables represent national Canadian retail averages and are the primary source behind Canada's Consumer Price Index.

Question 2

How do you handle the switch between the two tables?

Accepted Answer

Statistics Canada changed methodologies in 2017, moving from an in-store price survey to retail scanner data. The two methods give systematically different numbers for the same item, so we only kept the twelve items whose 2017 to 2021 overlap ratios were stable. For those items, the 1995 to 2016 values are rescaled by a single constant so they line up with the modern scanner-based series. Year-over-year percentage changes are unaffected by this rescaling, and the modern values shown in the chart match Statistics Canada scanner data exactly.

Question 3

Why are only twelve items in the cart?

Accepted Answer

The StatsCan tables contain dozens of items, but most track very similar price patterns to each other, and several items (like potatoes, cereal, and coffee) could not be cleanly joined across the 2017 methodology change. We picked twelve staples that together tell the clearest story: a mix of high-movers like ground beef, orange juice, bacon, and eggs, alongside low-movers like bananas and sugar that show not everything inflated the same way.

Question 4

Are these the prices I'd actually pay at the store?

Accepted Answer

These are national average retail prices from Statistics Canada. Your actual prices vary by city, store, brand, sales, and season. The 2025 figures are real scanner-data averages from StatsCan Table 18-10-0245-01, so they should be in the ballpark of what you'd see at a checkout across Canada. Treat this as a long-term trend tool, not a precise grocery budget.

Question 5

What does the hours-of-work calculation mean?

Accepted Answer

This shows how many hours of work at your entered hourly wage are required to pay for your cart in each selected year. If wages had kept pace with grocery inflation, this number would be the same in both years. If it takes more hours in the later year, your wages grew more slowly than prices, representing a real reduction in purchasing power.

The Inflation
Grocery Cart

Common questions

The InflationGrocery Cart

Common questions

The Inflation
Grocery Cart