Ottawa will also provide $20 million to the Local Food Infrastructure Fund which supports food banks and other organizations that provide food to Canadians.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a 25 per cent hike to the GST credit to help lower-income consumers deal with the high cost of groceries across the country.
Branded as the “Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit,” the boost will be temporary, starting this year and lasting for five years.
According to the federal government, a family of four will receive up to $1,890 this year with the increases, compared to $1,100 a year as the credit exists now. A single person, meanwhile, would receive $950 this year compared to $540.
Ottawa is also launching a new National Food Security Strategy, which will include measures around unit label pricing, which Carney said will allow Canadians to “compare easily” between products. The strategy will provide support for the Competition Bureau in “monitoring and enforcing competition in our market” and introduce measures to strengthen food security in Canada’s north.
Carney says the cost of essentials has been “too high for too long” and many Canadians are feeling daily financial pressure.
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