World Food Day is observed annually by the United Nations (UN) and the international community on October 16 to bring awareness to global food insecurity.
The day also serves as a reminder here at home that food insecurity also affects many Canadians—let’s have a look at our food-related data.
More fruits, eggs, poultry and beef available but less vegetables available
Our annual food availability series measures the amount of food physically present in Canada for consumption on a per-person basis. The latest data are from 2025, when the availability of fresh fruit (including citrus) increased 3.7% from 2024 to 77.9 kilograms (kg) per person.
There were 61.8 kg of fresh vegetables (except potatoes) available per person in 2025, down 3.3% from 2024 and the seventh consecutive year-over-year decline.
The availability of total poultry increased to 26.1 kg (boneless weight) per person (+3.9%) in 2025, while beef availability increased to 14.2 kg (boneless weight) per person (+3.2%), primarily due to a 21.7% year-over-year increase in imports. Meanwhile, pork availability was relatively stable at 14.1 kg (boneless weight) per person (-0.1%).
The availability of eggs increased to 22.5 dozens per person (+4.8%) in 2025, as Canadian egg production nearly reached 1 billion dozen.
Prices for staples continue to rise since record increase
Though some staples have seen improved availability, other factors such as seasonality, input and transportation costs continue to push up grocery prices. On an annual average basis, prices for food purchased from stores increased by nearly one-tenth (+9.8%) in 2022, the fastest pace since 1981.
From 2022 to 2025, grocery prices rose another 13.9%, with increases seen across the board for fresh or frozen beef (+42.9%), fresh or frozen poultry (+21.4%), fresh or frozen pork (13.9%), fish, seafood and other marine products (+13.3%), dairy products (+20.5%), eggs (+26.0%), fresh fruit (+18.0%) and fresh vegetables (+21.3%).
Food insecurity declines slightly, while affordability concerns increase
In 2024, approximately 9.8 million people—or 24.0% of Canadians—lived in households that reported experiencing some form of food insecurity, down by just over 360,000 people from the previous year.
Food insecurity varies greatly across family types and at-risk populations. For example, those in one-parent families (44.4%), Indigenous people aged 15 years and older (34.7%), unattached non-seniors (30.4%) and racialized people (30.4%) were most likely to report experiencing some form of food insecurity in 2024.
In the spring of 2025, the Canadian Social Survey found that nearly one in four Canadians (24.1%) reported it being easy or very easy for their household to meet its financial needs, down from nearly half (47.7%) in the summer of 2021.
Canada is not on track to meet its food insecurity reduction ambition
Canada is a participating country in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the second of which is to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Since 2018, Canada has shown a deterioration in its progress towards ensuring that Canadians have access to sufficient, affordable and nutritious food, one of the two ambitions under Goal 2 in the Canadian Indicator Framework for the SDGs. This means Canada is not currently on track to meet that ambition.
For more information
For the latest data and analysis, check out our Food Price Data Hub, Dimensions of Poverty Hub and Sustainable Development Goals Information Hub.
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).