Expanded Manitoba Grocery Food Tax Exemption Takes Effect

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew arrives for a first ministers’ meeting in Ottawa on Jan. 15, 2025. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Manitoba’s expanded PST exemption on grocery food took effect on July 1, removing the 7 percent tax from a wider range of items sold at grocery and convenience stores, including snacks, beverages, and ready-to-eat meals.

The new measure removes the provincial sales tax from all grocery food items, including previously taxed items like rotisserie chicken, sandwiches, and samosas, according to a March 25 news release.

The exemption would also apply to prepared foods such as soups and prepared fruits and vegetables and platters; beverages such as carbonated drinks, fruit juices, de-alcoholized beer and wine; baked goods, including single-serving items previously subject to tax; and snack foods such as candy, chips, salted nuts, and granola, according to the release.

Basic grocery items were already exempt from the provincial sales tax under Manitoba’s Retail Sales Tax Act. Under Section 3 (1) of that legislation, food and drink for human consumption off the premises where sold, but not including liquor, is exempt, as are food and drink for human consumption on the premises where sold where the total price is $6 or less, again not including liquor.

However, the exemption previously did not include snack and ready-to-eat food items, according to provisions of Information Bulletin RST 029 (Food and Beverages), which specified those items as taxable and which was originally issued in May 2000. Those provisions were overridden on July 1 through an amendment.

“Manitobans are feeling the cost of groceries every week,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said at a press conference accompanying the news release on March 25. “Budget 2026 offers real relief for Manitoba families on the items you pick up when you are in a rush to feed the family before hockey practice and swimming lessons.”

The Manitoba government addressed living costs in Budget 2026 through actions including freezing the price of one litre of milk and introducing legislation to address predatory pricing, it said in the news release.

“Retail sales tax revenue is projected to increase by $105 million, or 3.6 percent from Budget 2025, reflecting higher household and business spending partially offset by the impact of removing the PST from additional food sold at grocery stores and prenatal vitamins,” according to the Budget 2026 document.

Vince Barletta, president and CEO of Winnipeg-based food bank network Harvest Manitoba, said the new exemption could save families about $100 per year.

“For someone already stretching every dollar, saving $100 a year on groceries can mean a few more meals on the table or one less impossible choice between food and other essentials,” he said in the March 25 news release.

“We’re currently seeing record levels of need, with up to 60,000 Manitobans accessing food banks each month. Any measure that helps ease the cost of food is a step in the right direction.”