New report on the NAFB highlights the essential role of emergency food assistance and the need for sustainable solutions
Alima, Perinatal Social Nutrition Centre, is today releasing its annual report on the Nutritious and Affordable Food Basket (NAFB), a tool used to track the cost of a basic balanced diet that meets the nutritional needs of the population.
According to the 2025-2026 NAFB, a typical family of four spends $293 per week, or $15,280 per year, to meet its basic nutritional needs, representing an annual increase of just over 1% compared with the 2024-2025 NAFB.
Food costs often account for a large portion of the household budget of families supported by Alima. For the most common household among Alima’s clients, monthly income is not enough to cover both rent and the cost of a nutritious diet, resulting in an estimated monthly shortfall of $184 before other basic expenses, such as transportation and clothing, are even taken into account.
Julie Paquette, Executive Director, Alima
“Although the increase in the cost of the NAFB compared to last year may seem modest, the situation is still concerning for families who already don’t earn enough to cover the essentials. For families whose budgets are already stretched, every dollar matters, especially since the prices of certain food categories, such as meat, fresh fruit and basic grain products, have gone up significantly. The NAFB helps us document the gap between what a nutritious diet costs and what many families can actually afford to spend on food,” explains Julie Paquette, Executive Director, Alima.
This reality is reflected in the needs we see firsthand. In the last financial year (2025-2026), Alima has distributed more than 12,000 kilograms of food through its perinatal nutrition services, further strengthening the support available to families. “This emergency food assistance, which includes nutritious foods and essential baby items, addresses very real and immediate needs: 68% of the pregnant women supported by the organization are living with moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they have difficulty accessing sufficient quantities or quality of food. This can have an impact on the health of both the mother and her unborn baby. While this assistance is essential, what we ultimately want is for everyone to have the means to afford nutritious food on their own, without having to rely on food assistance,” says Calila Tardif, a dietician at Alima.
The report reiterates that emergency food assistance provides essential short-term support, but that it must be accompanied by measures to improve the affordability of nutritious food. In this respect, the NAFB remains a valuable tool for informing discussions and actions related to food security.
About Alima’s NAFB
Alima has been dedicated to food security since 1879. Since the 1950s, the organization has produced the Nutritious and Affordable Food Basket (NAFB), a tool to estimate the cost of a basic, nutritious and balanced diet based on age, sex and certain physiological conditions (pregnancy and breastfeeding).
Alima thanks its partners for supporting this mission, including the Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, and the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale.