24% more expensive: the cost of lunch explodes with inflation

Breakfast has never cost so much. The price of all classic morning foods is soaring, so the cost of the plate has jumped at least 20% in 12 months.

• Read also: CPI rises 6.8% year over year

While the inflation rate dipped in November, dropping from 6.9% to 6.8%, the opposite is true for groceries, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index, released yesterday by Statistics Canada.

The cost of food has officially jumped 11.4% in one year in Canada, which is the largest difference between inflation and food inflation – 3.6% – since January 2015.

“It’s calming down, except at the grocery store. The contrast is brutal,” notes Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Laboratory of Analytical Sciences in Agrifood at Dalhousie University.

Nowhere is this more blatant than in the price of the foods that make up breakfast.

The increase is 23.1% for butter, 18.2% for bread, 16.8% for coffee, 16.7% for eggs, 14.4% for cereals, 11 .2% for milk, 11% for fruit and 7.6% for fruit juice, indicate the official statistics for all of Canada.

In Quebec, the price of eggs rose 5.1% and that of butter 5.8% in just one month, from October to November 2022.

“Quebec really stands out compared to the other provinces on this,” argues Mr. Charlebois.

At 12.1%, food inflation in Quebec exceeds the Canadian average of 11.4%.

The temptation is strong to point the finger at grocers, when, as we know, a study on food prices is underway in Ottawa.

But we must also keep in mind that food inflation is a global phenomenon, underlines the expert in the sector.

For example, it is 10.6% in the United States, 12.2% in France, 16.4% in the United Kingdom and 21.1% in Germany, according to Trading Economics.

This is a small consolation for the Quebecer who prepares his breakfast, the most important meal of the day, which is now the most expensive.

At the grocery store, morning classics are not up 12.1%, but rather 20% to 25% on average.

A carton of 12 large white eggs costs $3.89 instead of $2.99 last year, a box of cereal $4.99 instead of $3.99, while bread, coffee and juice all rise by more than 15%.

Nothing indicates that it will stop.

“We still have at least 6 months like that,” predicts Mr. Charlebois.

Rents and mortgages explode

The rise in the price of housing is also gaining momentum. At 7.2%, it once again exceeded the rate of inflation.

Mortgage payments soared 14.5% in November. It was 11.4% in October.

Some estimates point to a shortage of more than 100,000 roofs for households in Quebec, which is facing a shortage of rental housing.

There is therefore little hope of seeing housing vacancy rates – already very low – go up in the various regions of Quebec, which would lower prices.

Statistics Canada’s rent index jumped 5.9% in November, compared to 4.7% in October.