Canada to announce grocery rebate to help offset costs of food inflation

A grocery rebate could be coming to Canada.

The Liberal government is set to announce the budget for the 2023-2024 financial year on Tuesday, and a glimmer of hope is in store for Canadians.

According to an unnamed government official who spoke to CBC News, the budget will feature a grocery rebate to help people cope with rising food costs.

The exact eligibility requirements for this rebate are still unclear. However, we know it’s aimed at assisting lower-income Canadians who struggle to keep a roof over their heads.

On March 20, hundreds of Canadian parents took to social media when they realized they had not been paid their monthly Canada Child Benefit. Upon investigating, we found that this was partly because Canada has resumed its tax debt offsetting measures.

The government is offsetting much of the monetary assistance it provided during the height of the pandemic via programs such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

We spoke to several affected parents. A few admitted they depended on these government cheques to clothe and feed their children.

At the end of this month, the federal government is also closing applications for its one-time $500 rental top-up, meant to fight housing unaffordability.

The new grocery rebate might help remedy financial hurdles arising from issues like this for around 11 million households, and its budget is upwards of $2 billion "facilitated through the GST credit."

CBC News's source also said that not all the money in the rebate would be expected to go into grocery spending, and the amount you receive will not depend on your grocery bills.

We have reached out to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and will update this article when we get a response.

Earlier this month, a report from RBC predicted that a "mild recession" was hurtling toward Canada in the coming months. Moreover, inflation levels are dipping slowly, despite several consecutive interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada.