The National Post reports in its Thursday, March 12, edition that Canada currently has the highest food inflation rate in the G7 at 7.3 per cent, a title it has held for two months. The Post's Laura Brehaut writes that a report from Desjardins predicts that food inflation will remain high throughout 2026 due to rising import prices, increased input costs and extreme weather events. Canadians are allocating more of their household income to food, with food's share of the Consumer Price Index rising to 16.9 per cent by mid-2025, the highest since 2011. The report notes that nearly one in five households experiences insufficient access to food due to financial constraints. Desjardins says government policies, such as the GST/HST holiday, which ran from December, 2024, to February, 2025, and the recently announced Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, can provide targeted relief. "There have been some recent studies, especially from Statistics Canada, that show that rising food prices can disproportionately affect financially vulnerable households, who disproportionately spend a larger chunk of their income on food." Desjardins says short-term income supports can be helpful, but they do not address the root causes.