The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Feb. 20, edition that Canada has the highest food inflation rate in the G7. The Globe's unbylined Decoder column reports that food inflation rose by 7.3 per cent in January, more than double the rate from six months ago, according to Statistics Canada. By far the biggest driver of annual price increases was the end of the tax holiday the former Trudeau government put in place for restaurants, snacks and other food items from mid-December, 2024, to mid-February, 2025. Top-line food prices fell 0.6 per cent a year ago due to a tax holiday, but now its end is having the opposite effect. Several grocery items are seeing significant price increases. Beef prices rose 18.8 per cent in January due to declining cattle herds, while low coffee yields drove prices up 29.8 per cent. In comparison, U.S. beef increased by 15 per cent and coffee by 18 per cent. Statscan gives different weightings for calculating inflation based on household spending, making certain price increases significantly impact overall food inflation. Canadians spend a big portion of their money on dining out, beef and coffee, so rising prices for them have an outsized effect on food inflation.