Secretary of State Long highlights the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit

January 30, 2026 – Miramichi, New Brunswick – Department of Finance Canada

The global landscape is rapidly changing, leaving economies, businesses, and workers under a cloud of uncertainty. In response, Canada’s new government is focused on what we can control: building a stronger economy to make life more affordable for Canadians. Affordability pressures—especially those related to food—require immediate support for Canadians.

Today in Miramichi, the Honourable Wayne Long, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions), took part in an event to highlight how the government is working to make life more affordable, and delivering significant new support for those most affected by the rising price of food.

As announced on January 26 by the Prime Minister, the government is proposing the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit to help more than 12 million low- and modest-income Canadians afford day-to-day essentials, including around 280,000 in New Brunswick, starting in the spring of 2026 (subject to Royal Assent).  

The government has introduced legislation in Parliament that would implement the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit which would be indexed to inflation, and build on the existing Goods and Services Tax (GST) Credit to provide $11.7 billion in additional support over six years by:

• providing a one-time top-up payment to be paid as early as possible this spring and no later than June 2026 (subject to Royal Assent)—equal to a 50% increase in the annual 2025-26 value of the GST Credit. This would deliver $3.1 billion in immediate assistance to individuals and families who currently get the GST Credit.
• increasing the value of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit by 25% for five years starting in July 2026 (subject to Royal Assent). This increase would deliver $8.6 billion in additional support over the 2026-27 to 2030-31 period, including to 500,000 new individuals and families.

Taken together, these measures would provide up to an additional $402 to a single individual without children, $527 to a couple, and $805 to a couple with two children. At these levels, Canada’s new government will be offsetting grocery cost increases beyond overall inflation since the pandemic.

The government has also announced a suite of measures to tackle food insecurity, support producers and strengthen supply chains, including:

• Setting aside $500 million from the Strategic Response Fund to help businesses address the costs of supply chain disruptions without passing those costs on to Canadians at the checkout line.
• Creating a $150 million Food Security Fund under the existing Regional Tariff Response Initiative for small and medium enterprises and the organizations that support them.
• Introducing immediate expensing for greenhouse buildings to lower the cost of food production. This allows producers to fully write off greenhouses acquired on or after November 4, 2025, and that become available for use before 2030. This measure supports increased domestic supply and investment in food production over the medium-term.
• Providing $20 million to the Local Food Infrastructure Fund to ease immediate pressures with food banks. This supports food banks and other national, regional, and local organizations to deliver more nutritious food to families in need.
• Developing a National Food Security Strategy to tackle the root causes of food insecurity—one that strengthens domestic food production and improves access to affordable, nutritious food.
• This strategy will also include measures to implement unit price labelling and support the work of the Competition Bureau in monitoring and enforcing competition in the market, including food supply chains.