As Canadians light their grills for the long weekend of August, one of the most appreciated summer traditions of the country now faces an expensive turn: meat prices have increased 25 percent during the past year, far exceeding the inflation rate and putting the price of hamburgers and summer fillets in unknown territory.
The price of ground meat reached $ 14.67 per kilogram in May 2025, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada, a 25 percent increase over the $ 11.72 recorded one year before and well above the country’s current inflation rate of 1.7 percent.
This weekend marks one of the busiest grill parties of the year in Canada, while families and friends meet in cabins, camps and rear courtyards from coast to coast. Even with the ground meat that reaches the historical maximums, the Canadians seem not to be willing to put aside their precious hamburger or change it to Tofu.
In any case, the persistent effects of commercial tensions and a growing movement to support local producers have only strengthened the demand for their own harvest beef, according to some analysts.
“The demand for beef is phenomenal. It is really good news,” Kevin Grier, an economist, based in Guelph, Ontario, told CBC News, who specializes in the analysis of the livestock, meat and edible market.
“If you want someone to blame, really blame the consumer because we continue to come back.”
The persistent western drought shrinks flock
Behind the increase in prices there are some family factors: smaller flocks of prolonged drought in western Canada and high supplies for food.
“There has been so much drought in southwest Saskatchewan and the south of Alberta that some of these farmers have not had any humidity since the snow melted in April,” said Stuart Smyth, a professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Resources at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
Smyth said that some western producers choose to reduce their herds instead of absorbing the high feeding cost, which in some cases must be transported from other provinces. Given the possibility of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, many choose to reduce size.
“That is why we have seen this fall of half a million cattle in the last five years, it is because this has been a fairly prolonged drought in one of the regions that has the greatest number of cattle,” he said.
Some farmers see an advantage
Even so, not all farmers feel the pinch. Thanks to the strong demand, driven by the increase in popularity of barbecue culture and a renewed impulse to support local commercial tensions in the way, some cattle producers are, once, seeing a rare advantage.
Unlike the previous cycles of food inflation, it offers certain producers a better return.
“We cannot establish our prices,” said Lee Irvine, a cattle producer outside Calgary.
He explained that farmers do not have much control over what they earn by their cattle. Instead, they are price makers, accepting what the market offers in an auction.
“So, when consumers are willing to leave and pay higher prices for beef, there are drip effects for main producers,” he said. “We are selling our cattle in a higher margin at this time.”
Even so, not all producers have been able to make the most of. After consecutive drought years, Irvine said her operation did not receive enough spring rain to maintain a complete flock this year.
“We are just running about 20 heads,” he said. “We would normally be between 30 and 60 years old.”
The cost of livestock places butchers in a crunch
Some butchers said the problem is not a livestock shortage; It is the cost of buying them.
“We have no problem getting beef, but we just have to pay the highest prices for them,” said Andy Trbizan, who runs the Brydges slaughterhouse in Mount Brydges, Ontario, along with his daughter and son. “I am thinking that it has to be between 15 and 20 percent higher than it used to be.”
Despite transmitting those costs to the consumer, whether your steak, chuck or an entire breast, beef has proven to be resistant. The jump in meat prices has not dissuaded buyers or applicants to well. Instead, barbecue culture seems to be enjoying a complete peak. The Canada Meat Commerce and Marketing Association says that since 1989 last year’s demand was only higher in 2020 and 2022.
“The demand is really high, especially in summer,” Trbizan said, and pointed out that the slaughterhouse often sees alignments that extend through the door of the exhibition room on weekends.
“People want to leave, make their barbecues and want to entertain.”
If you want someone to blame, really blame the consumer because we continue to come back.– Kevin Grier, livestock, meat and edible analyst
“And smoking meat has become very popular, so everyone has their smokers and they are also trying new things,” said his daughter Nicole Miller.
These conditions are expected to maintain meat prices through at least 2027, with little immediate relief, according to a recent industry report. This projection underlines the slow and stable nature of the reconstruction of the flock, which requires time for animals to mature and reach market size.
Experts suggest that consumers may need to prepare for a prolonged period of higher prices, even when producers work to stabilize the supply.
For now, summer barbecues have a cousin, but it is a price that Canadians seem willing to pay.
