Canada’s Grocery Prices Surge Again: Coffee Up 28%, Inflation Returns to the Dinner Table

Grocery prices in Canada rose 4% in September from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s latest Consumer Price Index — signaling that food inflation is regaining momentum after a brief slowdown.

Coffee saw the steepest rise.
Over the past year, coffee prices jumped 28.6%, driven by poor weather in Brazil and Vietnam — the world’s key coffee producers — and the reintroduction of U.S. tariffs under President Trump.
Tim Hortons responded by raising its coffee prices by roughly 1.5% per cup earlier this month, citing higher import and dairy costs. The price surge highlights how global supply chain pressures are reaching Canadian households, making the morning coffee a symbol of broader inflation.

Protein staples are also climbing.
Fresh and frozen beef prices surged 14% year over year due to extreme weather across the U.S. plains, while chicken and pork prices rose 1.5% and 5.5%, respectively.
Seafood prices increased 5.5%, with canned salmon up 8.3% in a single month.
Nuts and seeds jumped 15.7%, partly due to a 50% U.S. tariff on Brazilian imports, while eggs and ice cream rose modestly by 1.4% and 1.9%.
These figures underline the combined effect of climate volatility, feed costs, and trade tension on global food supply chains.

Seasonal produce also fluctuated sharply.
Cucumber prices spiked 24.7% month-over-month in September as the harvest season ended and drought conditions in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada strained crops. Lettuce also rose 9.3% during the same period.

Some good news: a few items got cheaper.
Berries fell 13% year-over-year, helped by Morocco doubling its blueberry exports to 1,900 tons worth $19 million, along with strong domestic harvests — total fruit output rose 5.2% to nearly 931,000 metric tons.
Prices for edible oils dropped 9%, while butter and cheese declined by 1.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

Still, the latest data confirm that inflation has once again claimed its seat at Canada’s dinner table.

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