People Mentioned
Special Advisor, Ottawa
New data from Statistics Canada reveals that Canada’s overall inflation rate edged down slightly. While this downturn is driven by a decline in the cost of gasoline, food prices at the grocery store continue to rise.
CTV News Channel’s political program Power Play recently featured an episode with Osler Special Advisor Stephen Poloz, who shared his insights on the Canadian economy and discussed inflation as it relates to the cost of food.
Speaking to host Vassy Kapelos, Stephen explored contributing factors that impact food prices. “Those numbers are, of course, being affected by the tariffs that were put in place on a number of food areas. They’re also being affected by the taxation effect that came through, which was the tax holiday and then the reversal of the tax holiday. But I think the big thing is that the whole food sector is suffering from a variety of what we call special shocks, such as the prolonged drought that we’ve had in Western Canada and the United States.”
Stephen commented on circumstances such as unfortunate weather, which “. . . can take a whole year, or more perhaps, beef for example, it can be a very long cycle for beef to recover from a prolonged drought.”
The impact on the food sector doesn’t just affect households, but the restaurant industry as well. There is a broad scope of costs rising at the same time.
“It [has] nothing to do with the cycle of the economy you are in. That’s why when we look at inflation, we usually talk about core inflation or something that excludes gasoline or energy and food because those are the things we really have no control over.”
Listen to the full episode which aired on February 17, 2026.
People Mentioned
Special Advisor, Ottawa
