Cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket in 2020-2021

Overview

The tables below show the cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket (RNFB) in communities eligible for the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) program. The amounts are estimates of what it cost to feed a family of 4 a healthy diet for 1 week.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has posed significant challenges for the supply chain including transport issues, staffing concerns, shortages and losses. During this unprecedented time, food costs increased due to economic and logistic volatility in food-related to transportation and retail sectors.

On April 14, 2020, in response to critical priorities identified by territorial governments to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada announced additional support measures to address the immediate health, economic, and transportation needs of northerners. This included an additional $25 million investment to Nutrition North Canada, to increase subsidy rates in all eligible communities.

This has led to savings for the residents of eligible communities.

For comparison, the tables show the cost of the RNFB in March 2011 (under the Food Mail Program) versus the latest completed fiscal year. The tables also provide information for the 2020 to 2021 quarters, to help monitor trends over time.

In communities eligible for a full retail subsidy under NNC, the average cost of the RNFB in March 2021 was $2.45 (0.59%) higher than in March 2020. The average basket cost is lower by $7.37 (1.76%) compared to March 2011, prior to the launch of the NNC program.

According to Statistics Canada, food purchased from stores elsewhere in Canada increased by 1.33% between March 2020 and March 2021, and increased by 18.2% over 10 years.

The cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket between March 2020 to March 2021 decreased in 35 communities in the regions of Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Overall, 45 out of 116 eligible communities had a lower RNFB growth rate than the Consumer Price Index of 1.33% for food purchased outside of the program in the same period.

Cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket in 2020 to 2021

The cost of the basket was calculated with price data provided by the following retailers:

• Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec
• North West Company
• Stanton Group Ltd.

Notes:

• n/a = not available
• The cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket is calculated using the price data received from registered Northern retailers with NNC that have a store in an eligible community.
• The cost of the RNFB may not be available in the communities where local stores are not registered with the NNC program but access the subsidy by purchasing eligible items from registered suppliers. RNFB costs may also not be available for communities where the provided food price data could not be used accurately and consistently to calculate the cost of the RNFB.
• Eligible communities (excl. Nain and Rigolet) in Newfoundland and Labrador lack a registered Northern retailer with NNC. Therefore, the program is not able to estimate the cost of food in those communities. Food price data for Nain and Rigolet are collected from the listed store in the communities.
• Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. price data from Co-op stores in Nunavut and Northwest Territories have been excluded from the basket cost calculation in order to maintain the consistency of the report with the earlier versions.
• Quebec North Shore communities are only eligible for a few weeks when marine services are not available.
• The cost of RNFB in Ulukhaktok, Aklavik and Paulatuk for the periods of March, June and September 2020 is missing price data of the community's other retailer.
• The cost of RNFB in Norman Wells is calculated using price data from the largest retailer in the community.
• The RNFB cost is not available for Old Crow, Yukon. The community lacks reliable price data to calculate the basket cost for the 67 items.
• ◊ Berens River, Williams Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, Black Lake and Stony Rapids were removed from the program in 2018 as they no longer met eligibility requirements. Therefore, the number of program-eligible communities decreased to 116. For consistency and comparative purposes, the tables display the RNFB cost for the above communities in the previous periods.