Evidence of the Association between Household Food Insecurity and Heating Cost Inflation in Canada, 1998–2001

Abstract

We investigated the 5.3 percentage point increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in Canada between the National Population Health Survey of 1998–99 and the Canadian Community Health Survey of 2000–01. We found that the increase in food insecurity occurred disproportionately in households in the western provinces, particularly Alberta, and among homeowners rather than renters. Inter-provincial variation in heating cost inflation explained as much as 61 percent of the inter-provincial variation in food insecurity increases between 1998 and 2001.