Alberta targets grocery prices as food inflation lingers

The Alberta government will be taking steps to speak with grocers to look at how food prices can be reduced for residents.

The Alberta government is zeroing in on grocery prices as a key cost-of-living concern, with plans to meet with Canada’s largest food retailers.

Premier Danielle Smith says Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally will meet with grocers to explore ways to improve affordability.

Nally’s office confirms that those meetings are aimed at increasing competition and finding ways to lower prices locally.

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“While many of the pressures on food prices are national and global, we’re focused on what we can change locally to increase competition and help lower prices for Albertans,” said the minister in a statement.

The push comes as the latest data from Statistics Canada shows food price growth picking up again.

Prices for food purchased from stores rose 4.4 per cent year-over-year in March, up from 4.1 per cent in February.

Fresh vegetables saw some of the biggest increases — jumping 7.8 per cent, the fastest pace since August 2023 — with items like cucumbers, peppers and celery driving the spike, partly due to tighter supply and poor growing conditions in key regions.

While many of the factors behind rising food costs are global, the province says it’s focusing on what it can control locally as affordability remains a top concern for Albertans.

Still, the premier says grocery bills remain one of the biggest pressures facing Albertans.

“The other thing I think people feel is when they go to the grocery store, and they’re at the meat counter, and they’re buying ham, and buying chicken, and buying eggs and the milk, and they’re saying, ‘Why are things more expensive than I remember?’” Smith said on her weekly radio show, Your Province. Your Premier.