Times are tight, and many Albertans are dealing with an affordability crisis. “It’s tough. I have two kids, and I go to the grocery store, and I’ll buy one bag of groceries and it’ll be $100 every time,” said Gabby Potvin. Potvin was a customer at Congress Coffee, a Calgary coffee shop that has a “pay what you feel” deal for drip coffee. “The people who have means are intrigued, and the people who I can tell don’t have the means are relieved,” said Johanna Schwartz, Congress Coffee owner. Groceries Canadian consumers paid four per cent more for food last month than they did one year ago, according to Statistics Canada. September marked the largest year-over-year increase in grocery prices since the most recent low in April 2024. Vegetables, sugar and confectionary, beef and coffee were the main drivers. “We’re starting to see the end of the domestic supply, and we’re starting to get into import supply, which traditionally has an inflationary impact,” said Michael Graydon, Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada CEO. Beef and coffee supplies are down. Cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, is dealing with climate change and labour issues. Insurance Albertans are also paying 12.7 per cent more for home and mortgage insurance and 15.2 per cent more for car insurance year-over-year. Compare that to national averages at 5.4 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. “It’s part of the hailstorms and the wildfires. … Another part of it is the kind of a unique market that is Alberta compared to the rest of the provinces,” said Andrew Barclay, Statistics Canada economist. Inflation Overall, Alberta’s year-over-year inflation was 1.9 per cent in September; it was also up from 1.4 per cent in August. Those numbers are lower than the national average, sitting at 2.4 per cent year-over-year and 1.9 per cent in August. Barclay says that’s partly thanks to gas prices, which remained flat in Alberta. “September was a base year effect coming from gasoline prices. What that means is that the price of gasoline last year was lower. We’re comparing that price difference between last September and this September, and it’s a smaller decrease than it was in August,” said Barclay. Minimum Wage For many Calgarians, wallets are thin as prices increase but not wages. Alberta’s $15/hour minimum wage is the lowest in the country. “What we see is people relying on credit to manage their daily expenses. … They’re using credit to supplement their income because they can’t afford it,” said Stacy Yanchuk Oleksy, Money Mentors CEO.
