REGINA — Prices for general food items in Saskatchewan have increased nearly 50 per cent since 2018, according to information aquired by NDP.
Data accumulated from Statistics Canada by the Sask. NDP have listed different items jumping between February 2018 and December 2025, including:
- Baby formula (47 per cent increase);
- Ground beef (45.7 per cent increase);
- Strawberries (46 per cent increase);
- Iceberg lettuce (46 per cent increase);
- Canned tomatoes (47 per cent increase);
- Canola oil (46 per cent increase).
Over the past year, grocery prices in Saskatchewan have risen 5.5 per cent year-over-year, according to the province’s latest inflation report.
These increases are causing families to face tough decisions, said NDP Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon.
“The people of Saskatchewan are being forced every day to make impossible choices to put food on the table, a vehicle on the road and to keep a roof over their head.”
One idea floated by the provincial Opposition is removing PST on groceries, including rotisserie chicken and rice, which would save families between $100 and $200 yearly.
However, the provincial government has stated very few groceries include PST, shooting down the NDP’s idea.
Wotherspoon admitted cutting PST on food is only one of several measures towards affordability.
The NDP is considering a range of measures to reduce food costs, with plans to unveil them when the spring sitting resumes next week.
In its response to the NDP’s news conference, the Government of Saskatchewan pointed to an article highlighting new federal NDP leader Avi Lewis’s support for government-run grocery stores.
Wotherspoon said the party isn’t considering that option.
“That’s not something that we’re proposing. We’d like to see this provincial government scrap its tax on groceries, and we’ll push for other measures to make sure that grocery stores can’t act in predatory ways, or that the food supply chain can’t act in non-competitive, anti-competitive ways.”
