Rising food costs have forced British Columbians to shop differently, eat less: poll

A new poll has found that almost a third of British Columbians are “more stressed” about having enough money to make it to the end of each month.

The poll, conducted by Research Co. in partnership with United Way BC, found that rising food costs have forced many British Columbians to change their shopping and dietary habits.

More than a third said they have switched packaged food brands to a lower-priced generic alternative or changed their diet completely to avoid products that have become more expensive.

More than one in five (21 per cent) said they have cut back on lunches for themselves, 12 per cent have cut back on medications and about four per cent have cut back on children’s lunches.

“Just over two-in-five British Columbians aged 18-to-34 (41 per cent) acknowledge modifying their diet because specific products have become unaffordable,” Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., said in a release.

“The proportion is also noteworthy among British Columbians aged 35-to-54 (36 per cent) and aged 55 and over (28 per cent).”

Just under one in four residents, 23 per cent, said they or other household members had to reduce the size of their meals recently due to affordability.

When it comes to nutritious meals, of which ingredients are often more expensive, about 18 per cent said they are unable to afford healthier meals and about 15 per cent said they have to skip meals due to affordability.

Fifteen per cent said that they accessed food through a community organization or a food bank.

Almost a third of British Columbians (31 per cent) are more stressed now than two years ago about having enough money to make it to the end of the month, the poll found.

Many British Columbians are also eating less due to not having enough money to buy food and more than one in five said they have had a senior family member, coworker or friend express concern about paying for non-essential but important things such as holiday gifts for others, coffee or social activities, due to the rising cost of living expenses.

Alžběta Sabová, director of Food Security, Community Impact and Investment at United Way BC, told Global News food affordability and security are urgent issues.

“All the numbers are alarming, but when we see people making significant changes to their diets because they can’t afford food, so they would eat less or they would skip food or they will not send kids to school with lunches, that is something that is very alarming,” she said.

Sabová said that organizations and governments need to work together to address these issues.

“We need to make sure that our retailers and suppliers are also understanding what is going on and what their customers are experiencing,” she added.

“We also need to be sure that we continue working with provincial governments. So there’s policies and some of these issues addressed in a more global scale. And we also need to continue working on the not-for-profit level to ensure that we’re supporting families and people that are experiencing this, so they can access resources, they have sufficient programs available, and we can really transition them and help them in these really significantly impacting times of their lives.”

Being able to afford food is a similar stress to other key issues, such as paying rent or mortgage and having enough time to care for themselves and their families, according to those polled.

Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from April 24 to April 26, 2026, among 801 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error — which measures sample variability — is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

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