The latest data on average retail prices for groceries, released by Statistics Canada Wednesday morning, show something many already knew – prices have gone up over the past years, and for some items, significantly. The data also shows that here in Saskatchewan, however, the increases appear to be slowing down for many items.
The biggest changes when looking at the past five years are for generally meats. The largest increase from February 2020 to February 2025, the most recent month the data is available, was for pork shoulder cuts. The average price per kilogram jumped from $4.12 to $8.12 – an increase of 97.1 per cent. However, in the past year, the price has moved up by just 1.63 per cent – 13 cents – for the same cut of pork.
This was a trend seen across the items, with some prices even coming down slightly, particularly for produce. Bananas, limes, grapes, strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and others were down in price this past February, compared to February 2024. Frozen fruits and vegetables also saw price decreases in terms of the average price during February.
The largest decreases in price were for items such as laundry detergent, which on average was $4.00, or 22.77 per cent lower, than in February 2024. Some of the grocery items which have seen the average price decrease over five years include canned tuna, pork ribs, and almonds.
The drop in the average price of many grocery items came before the announcement of the removal of the consumer carbon levy, which took effect on Tuesday, and the announcement of tariffs being applied by the United States and Canada in response.
The average retail prices of groceries are different than the numbers compiled for the consumer price index. The average price is a look at the price levels of a given month. They are useful to see different price levels of products in the same month. The consumer price index is a look at the pure price change over time, and helps to determine the inflation rate overall within the economy.
Statistics Canada cautions that while average prices provide a complementary picture of consumer prices, they are not comparable with the pure price changes calculated in the consumer price index due to differences in methodology.