Thanksgiving will be more expensive for Canadians this year — with many of the traditional foods present on families' dinner tables having the largest price increases seen in the last three years.A new study conducted by the agri-food lab at Dalhousie University calculates the cost of a Thanksgiving meal and compares the price based on which conventional protein is selected.It concludes that the main event of every Thanksgiving meal — turkey — is one of the largest contributors to the overall increase, with the cost of a turkey Thanksgiving meal for a family of four rising 10% compared to 2025, to $35.72.As the food professor, also known as Dr. Sylvain Charlebois who, operates the lab, states, "Turkey is the largest contributor" to this increase in costliness."Turkey accounts for $2.10 of that increase—approximately 65%—while the side dishes account for the remaining $1.14," pointed out Charlebois to the Western Standard..He adds that carrots contribute the most increase among the side dishes, while potatoes have remained relatively stable price-wise.Though he claims this does not directly measure the inflation rate of carrots, since it was calculated using different package sizes and pricing sources.As for why turkey has become more costly, Charlebois says there are multiple factors, including, "production, processing and transportation costs."He adds that "retailers’ promotional strategies can influence prices, but this study does not isolate their respective effects.".If families decide to alternate their protein source for less common but equally delicious alternatives, they will also find a surge in those prices.For example, one of the most common alternatives, ham, experienced a 4.3% increase in a year, now listed at $36.37 for a ham Thanksgiving meal for a family of four.More atypical proteins selected on Thanksgiving, like lamb and lobster, also could not avoid the price increase.A lamb Thanksgiving meal for four increased by 3.5% in a year to $80.47, while a lobster Thanksgiving meal for four increased by 3.4% at $88.14..The study points out that "despite the slowdown in food inflation, the Thanksgiving meal is a reminder that pressure on consumers’ wallets remains very real in 2026." As for whether Canadians can expect this same price increase for Christmas dinner meals, Charlebois states, "I expect affordability to remain a concern heading into Christmas, but it is too early to project a similar 10% increase."He also adds a disclaimer that these projections for Thankgiving meal prices are based on the typical Thanksgiving basket consumers check out at the store. This comes after Statistics Canada announced grocery prices fell below overall inflation in August, for the first time since July 2021, as reported by Post Media. In August grocery prices rose 2.8% compared to a year earlier, in contrast to 3.1% in July.
