Statistics Canada Food Price Hub has compared several average prices of foodstuffs from across the country, between August and September 2023. 

Statistics Canada, which lists the monthly Canadian average retail price of selected food items, noted that white bread (675 grams), white rice (2 kilograms), ground beef (per kilogram), and chicken breasts (per kilogram) all rose in price when comparing August to September prices. The largest price jump was seen in chicken breasts. The average price in August was $14.75, while in September it rose to $15.48, noting a 73-cent jump. 

Food items such as milk, butter, eggs, apples, potatoes, tomatoes and vegetable oil saw a price drop from August to September. 

However, Statistics Canada cautions that the monthly Canadian average retail price of selected food items should not be, 'used to calculate the change in prices, as they are not comparable over time. Factors such as product rotation, quality and quantity changes, and shifting consumer preferences can contribute to price differences from one month to another.'

Provincially, when one looks at the monthly average retail prices for selected products in Alberta between October 2022 to September 2023, some beef product prices have risen significantly in the past several months. 

  • Ground beef (per kilogram) in September 2023 was priced at $12.67, the highest price since October of last year, when it cost $10.03. 
  • Chicken breasts (per kilogram) in September 2023 were recorded as costing $16.36, the second-highest average price recorded in the past 12 months. In August chickened breasts cost an average of $16.75.
  • One litre of milk cost $2.97 in September of this year, which is the highest it has been in the 12-month time frame. 
  • Soy milk (1.89 litres) has dropped slightly in price, over the past few months. In September, it cost $4.27, a price drop when comparing it to June 2023, when it was the most expensive at $4.47. Though Soy milk in October 2022 cost, $4.07, the lowest price recorded in the 12-month time frame.
  • Butter (454 grams) was the cheapest in November 2022, priced at $6.31. In May 2023, it reached its highest price in the 12 months, priced at $6.74. In September 2023, butter did drop to $6.35.
  • A dozen eggs in September 2023 were priced at $4.94, the highest price in the 12 months.
  • Apples (one kilogram) have declined in price after significant increases in 2022 and 2023. In October 2022, apples were priced at $4.36. For several months after, apple prices hovered above six dollars, and for the first time in months have dropped to below six dollars in September of this year, at $4.62.
  • Infant formula (900 grams) has also gone up in price exponentially, with the September 2023 price at $39.16, which is only several cents cheaper than August 2023. In October 2022, infant formula cost $33.70.

From the items that Statistics Canada lists, infant formula was the most expensive product in September 2023, while a lime was the cheapest at $0.83.   

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