Thanksgiving will cost Canadian households more in 2026, according to a study by Dalhousie University’s agri-food analytics lab.
The study said that regardless of the protein selected, a Thanksgiving meal will cost more this year.
“Despite the slowdown in food inflation , the Thanksgiving meal is a reminder that pressure on consumers’ wallets remains very real in 2026,” the study said.
That increase will be particularly pronounced for the traditional turkey meal, with the cost estimated to rise 10 per cent or $3.24 from last year to $35.72 for a family of four.
The same meal cost $32.30 in 2024 and $32.48 in 2025, the study said.
Meanwhile, a meal with ham as the protein is the closest budget alternative to turkey, while lamb and lobster are considerably more expensive, it said. A ham, lamb and lobster meal is estimated to cost $36.37, $80.47 and $88.14, respectively, with the same side dishes as a traditional dinner.
Ham is in roughly the same price range as turkey, while the cost of lamb and lobster depends heavily on the cut selected, lobster size and local promotions.
Dalhousie’s study said the increases for ham, lamb and lobster meals result in part from reconstructing their past prices using the overall food CPI.
Grocery price growth fell below the overall inflation rate in August, the first time since July 2024, according to Statistics Canada’s CPI dat a. Prices for store-bought food rose by 2.8 per cent year-over-year in August following a 3.1 per cent increase in July.
Although prices for groceries decelerated in August, food costs have climbed 29 per cent since August 2021.
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