Nearly one in three Canadians is skipping or reducing meals over grocery costs, Salvation Army finds — a four-year high

By The Canadian Chronicle · Thursday, November 5, 2026

Community · Canada · The Canadian Chronicle

Published Thursday, November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Nearly one in three Canadians has skipped a meal, or eaten a smaller one, because groceries cost too much. That is the headline finding of the Salvation Army's 2026 Canadian Poverty and Socioeconomic Analysis, released Tuesday.

The numbers

The survey found 31 per cent of Canadians have skipped or reduced the size of a meal because they could not afford groceries. That is up from 27 per cent in 2025.

Fifteen per cent have accessed community food supports, up from 11 per cent last year. Both figures are the highest recorded in the study's four-year history.

Younger Canadians report the sharpest pressure. Among those aged 18 to 34, 41 per cent report skipping or reducing meals, and 23 per cent have accessed community food assistance, up from 15 per cent last year.

What Canadians say worries them

Food affordability has moved into Canadians' top three national concerns. Thirty-seven per cent now name it a priority, up 11 percentage points from 26 per cent in 2025, overtaking homelessness and housing insecurity in the survey's ranking.

"It's deeply concerning that nearly one in three Canadians are having to skip meals or eat less because they can't afford groceries," said Glenn van Gulik, the Salvation Army's national spokesperson, in the release.

How the study was done

The analysis was conducted by Edelman Intelligence from September 11 to 18, 2026. It surveyed 1,525 Canadians through the online Angus Reid Forum, with results weighted by age, gender and region.

The territories were excluded, and as a non-probability survey it carries no calculable margin of error. The figures are self-reported experience, presented here as the survey reports them.

The release lands the same week as Daily Bread Food Bank's Who's Hungry 2026 report, which counted 4.1 million food bank visits in Toronto. Two different measures, from two different organizations, point the same direction: community food supports are carrying more people, for longer.

The grocery bill behind the numbers

The survey's findings sit against grocery prices that are still rising, if more slowly than at their peak. Statistics Canada reported prices for food purchased from stores rose 1.7 per cent year over year in September, after increasing 2.8 per cent in August.

The Salvation Army is the country's largest non-governmental direct provider of social services. Its annual analysis tracks poverty, food and housing affordability, and financial security together, and this year's edition reports housing concerns and limited financial resilience alongside the food figures.

The age breakdown is the report's sharpest edge. At 41 per cent, Canadians aged 18 to 34 are skipping or reducing meals at a rate ten points above the national figure, and nearly one in four of them — 23 per cent — has used community food assistance this year.