By Jake Ross

As living costs continue to rise and the affordability crisis continues affecting Canadian society at large, students’ purchasing decisions are being influenced mainly by price rather than their values. 

“The price tag is the first thing I look at,” said Dania Meziani, a fourth-year biomedical sciences student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). “That’s how I end up interpreting the rest of my decision-making.”

Choosing ethically-manufactured clothes, supporting responsible producers or avoiding certain companies can turn everyday purchases into expressions of principle. But when money is scarce, the options available may shrink. 

According to a recent report from Food Banks Canada, the number of food bank visits across the country increased by close to nine per cent from 2025 to 2026. The number of Canadians using food banks since the COVID-19 pandemic has increased by 117 per cent. 

The effects are being felt particularly hard by students. The Good Food Centre, a food bank run by the Toronto Metropolitan Student Union, stated in its 2026 Hunger Report that over 48 per cent of student respondents experienced food insecurity in the last year, as previously reported by The Eyeopener.

Additionally, the survey found that close to 40 per cent of students had enough food to eat but couldn’t afford to eat the food they preferred. 

Meziani said that price and dietary restrictions are the primary driver of her grocery-buying decisions, rather than where or by whom the product is produced. She usually buys groceries at large chain stores like Metro or No Frills and prefers cooking at home to eating out.

These choices come as students face rising grocery prices. Canadian grocery prices were 33 per cent higher in September 2026 than in September 2020, according to Statistics Canada. TMU estimates off-campus rent costs anywhere from $15,000 to $21,000 annually depending on accommodations. 

Research finds that budget constraints may also affect students’ efforts to eat sustainably.

A 2023 University of Waterloo study explored those choices through five focus groups involving 21 students. Participants discussed the difficulty of fitting foods they considered healthy and sustainable into their budgets. Financial feasibility was one of several influences on their eating habits, alongside time, cooking skills and campus food options. 

Simon Lopez, a fourth-year engineering student who has two jobs, one in data entry and another as a gym cleaner. He said that time is his main constraining factor when choosing what to buy.

“I don’t have enough time to be thinking about values to begin with,” he said. “I’d rather buy anything that satisfies the need at the time.”

Affordability is also the primary driver when it comes to clothes. Meziani said she tries to avoid overconsumption and buying clothes for short-term use, while prices at well-known brands make shopping at them more difficult. 

Similar concerns emerged in a survey of University of Toronto students, where 78 per cent of respondents identified cost as the greatest barrier to purchasing ethically-sourced clothes. About 84 per cent identified price as the most important purchasing factors, compared with 13 per cent who said sustainability practices were. 

Perceptions on the affordability of sustainable fashion also seem to be influencing what people purchase. A study done by Fashion Takes Action, a Canadian sustainable fashion advocacy organization, found that 36 per cent of respondents thought that sustainable fashion was too expensive, while 22 per cent thought it was affordable. The report also found that consumers with higher incomes were more likely to recognize and purchase clothing labelled as eco-friendly or sustainable.

Secondhand shopping offers another option. A study from Simon Fraser University found that independent resellers offered substantial savings on higher-quality garments, allowing people to shop sustainably without breaking the bank.

For Meziani, shopping secondhand helps balance affordability with her efforts to avoid overconsumption. She said she tries to buy most of her clothes from thrift shops or secondhand stores, limiting both spending and her own overconsumption. 

Still, she said current economic conditions make it “really difficult for us to be picky.”