Common menu bar links

Institutional links

CYB Historical Collection
- Site map
- Search options

Browse by

Chronology

Tools and reference

About the collection

Page content follows

Prices of a family budget of staple foods, fuel and lighting, and rent, for 60 cities in Canada, 1920, 1926, and 1928 to 1936

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Prices of a family budget of staple foods, fuel and lighting, and rent, for 60 cities in Canada, 1920, 1926, and 1928 to 1936
	Unit	1920	1926	1928	1929	1930	1931
		$
Staple foods
Beef, sirloin steak	1 lb.	0.389	0.294	0.345	0.363	0.356	0.286
Beef, chuck roast	1 lb.	0.251	0.160	0.206	0.227	0.221	0.158
Veal, roast	1 lb.	0.274	0.193	0.226	0.245	0.239	0.183
Mutton, roast	1 lb.	0.354	0.298	0.300	0.309	0.302	0.253
Pork, fresh, roast	1 lb.	0.397	0.302	0.273	0.300	0.298	0.223
Pork, salt mess	1 lb.	0.362	0.278	0.261	0.273	0.271	0.226
Bacon, breakfast	1 lb.	0.559	0.431	0.379	0.393	0.399	0.301
Lard, pure leaf	1 lb.	0.380	0.246	0.221	0.219	0.212	0.157
Eggs, fresh	1 dozen	0.709	0.466	0.478	0.475	0.457	0.337
Eggs, storage	1 dozen	0.608	0.398	0.412	0.403	0.394	0.271
Milk	1 qt.	0.151	0.118	0.121	0.123	0.123	0.111
Butter, dairy	1 lb.	0.631	0.406	0.417	0.428	0.368	0.272
Butter, creamery	1 lb.	0.696	0.448	0.461	0.470	0.405	0.300
Cheese, old	1 lb.	0.406	0.318	0.329	0.334	0.318	0.251
Cheese, new	1 lb.	0.383	0.318	0.329	0.334	0.318	0.251
Bread, plain white	1 lb.	0.093	0.076	0.077	0.078	0.075	0.062
Flour, family	1 lb.	0.079	0.053	0.052	0.051	0.047	0.033
Rolled oats	1 lb.	0.084	0.058	0.063	0.064	0.061	0.050
Rice, good medium	1 lb.	0.164	0.110	0.105	0.104	0.101	0.092
Beans, hand picked	1 lb.	0.117	0.079	0.089	0.115	0.094	0.061
Apples, evaporated	1 lb.	0.286	0.200	0.210	0.213	0.206	0.178
Prunes, medium	1 lb.	0.270	0.158	0.135	0.141	0.155	0.121
Sugar, granulated	1 lb.	0.197	0.079	0.079	0.073	0.068	0.062
Sugar, yellow	1 lb.	0.185	0.075	0.075	0.069	0.065	0.060
Tea, black	1 lb.	0.644	0.719	0.713	0.704	0.628	0.552
Tea, green	1 lb.	0.672	0.719	0.713	0.704	0.628	0.552
Coffee	1 lb.	0.608	0.612	0.607	0.604	0.572	0.492
Potatoes	1 pk.	0.080	0.436	0.258	0.291	0.355	0.172
Vinegar, white wine	1 pt.	0.080	0.080	0.080	0.080	0.080	0.080
All foods, weekly budget¹	$	15.99	11.21	11.04	11.34	10.96	8.49
Starch, laundry	1 lb.	0.144	0.124	0.123	0.123	0.123	0.120
Fuel and lighting
Coal, anthracite	1 ton	17.040	17.392	16.272	16.192	16.112	16.064
Coal, bituminous	1 ton	12.380	10.311	10.113	10.080	10.064	9.840
Wood, hard, best	1 cord	13.090	12.195	12.077	12.208	12.176	11.696
Wood, soft	1 cord	10.140	8.947	8.937	8.800	8.672	8.560
Coal oil	1 gallon	0.365	0.308	0.311	0.311	0.309	0.291
Rent
Rent	1 month	24.80	27.43	27.67	27.92	28.16	27.80
Grand total, weekly budget	$	25.91	21.47	21.27	21.61	21.29	18.66
Note: In the past, Canada used the British Imperial system of measurement (lb., inch, foot, etc.). However, in the 1970s, the Pierre Trudeau government implemented the International System of Units (km, cm, m, kg, etc.).
1. Totals for "All foods" and "Grand total"are based upon the estimated weekly family consumption.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Year Book, 1937.