Federal government pitches affordability relief as gas and grocery costs climb

With summer on the horizon, Secretary of State for Combatting Crime Ruby Sahota was back in the region talking about affordability measures for fuel and groceries.

On Monday, the government announced a break in fuel tax saving 10 cents a litre for regular and four cents for diesel.

“We want to provide Canadians with relief right now, and I think when they see that number at the pump, as you saw a couple of weeks ago, it was really startling for so many people,” said Sahota.

President of Canadians for Affordable Energy Dan McTeague said those savings have already erased as prices continue to increase.

“With gas prices heading up another five cents a litre tomorrow, the 10-cent drop will have been negated by what is an 11 or 12 cent increase since Wednesday,” said McTeague.

McTeague added the region can expect the fuel prices to stay consistent over the next year.

“It’s a massive supply gap unlike anything we’ve seen in our time. It means energy prices are going to be remaining very, very high and uncomfortably so for most Canadians for the next year or so,” said McTeague.

The federal government is also working to lighten the load on grocery bills by introducing the Grocery and Essential Benefit.

The benefit will be replacing the GST/HST credit in July.

Single Canadians will get a maximum of $267, while single parents will receive $441 for one child and up to $717 if they have four children or more.

The payment will be the same for married or common law Canadians with kids and those without will get a maximum of $349.

The one-time payment is in addition to the overall quarterly benefit that will remain in place from the GST/HST credit.

“We’ve calculated that for a family of four, the amount that they would get on average, if they are entitled to the GST/HST credit, then they would get almost over $1,800 this year in 2026,” said Sahota.

It’s something that local foodbanks are hoping will help their consumers with Karen Shuh, executive director for the Barrie Food Bank, calling it a step in the right direction.

“We’re serving a record of 8,000 individuals every month. And so, targeted income supports like this that will allow our clients to make that choice for groceries, rent and gas, means more dignity for our clients,” said Shuh.

Canadians who qualify for the new Canada Groceries and Essential Benefit will receive their one-time top up on June 5.

The new program will follow with quarterly payments staring in July like the GST/HST credit but with an increase of 25 per cent for the next five years.