The direct deposit hit your bank account yesterday. For most families, it was $628. The government calls it the “Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit”—a sterile, bureaucratic label for what is, in reality, a desperate political bribe.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants you to look at that $628. He wants you to spend it. He wants you to feel a fleeting moment of relief at the checkout counter. Most importantly, he wants you to focus on the deposit so you don’t notice that he is actively setting fire to the foundation of the Canadian economy.
Let’s be clear about what this money is. It is not “relief.” It is severance pay. It is a one-time payout to buy your silence while this government pivots away from our most important ally and drives us headlong into a ruinous trade war with the United States.
The Mathematics of Distraction
Politics is often about sleight of hand, but the math here is insultingly simple.
The government is handing you $628 today. In exchange, their new foreign policy—specifically the decision to prioritize a trade deal with Beijing over our relationship with Washington—is inviting a 100% U.S. tariff on Canadian goods.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates that even a modest version of these tariffs would cost the average Canadian household approximately $1,900 per year. If President Trump follows through on his latest threat to treat Canada as a “drop-off port” for Chinese goods, that cost will skyrocket.
Carney is giving you pennies to hide a bill that will run into the thousands. It is the economic equivalent of a landlord buying you a pizza while he terminates your lease and burns down the roof.
The Davos Pivot
The timing of this “benefit” is not accidental. It arrives just days after the Prime Minister’s speech in Davos, where he declared the “old order” of U.S.-led trade over and announced a new “principled” alignment with China on EVs and agriculture.
To the Laurentian elites in Switzerland, this sounded like bold statesmanship. To the Americans, it sounded like a betrayal. To Canadian workers, it should sound like an alarm bell.
By cutting tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to secure a deal for canola farmers, the Prime Minister has confirmed Washington’s worst suspicions: that under his leadership, Canada is becoming a backdoor for Beijing’s state-subsidized industry. The U.S. response was swift and predictable. The border is hardening. The “free trade” era is ending. And instead of fixing the diplomatic breach, the Liberals are printing billions in borrowed cash to distract you from the consequences.
Gasoline on the Inflation Fire
Even if we ignore the trade catastrophe, the economics of this rebate are pure fantasy. You cannot solve an inflation crisis by printing money.
The Canada’s Food Price Report forecasts that grocery costs will rise by another 4% to 6% in 2026. That’s an extra nearly $1,000 out of your pocket this year alone just to eat. The $628 rebate covers barely half of the increase, let alone the base cost.
Worse, pumping billions of unearned dollars into a supply-constrained economy acts as an accelerant. It devalues the dollar further, making imported food more expensive. It signals to grocery monopolies that the government will subsidize their price hikes rather than break up their market power.
It is a band-aid on a bullet wound. The government is taxing you on one end (through the carbon tax and inflation), taking a cut for the bureaucracy, and mailing you back a fraction of your own money as a “gift.”
The Verdict
This is not economic policy. It is damage control.
The Prime Minister knows that when the U.S. tariffs actually hit—when the lumber mills close, the auto plants idle, and the dollar tanks—the public anger will be uncontrollable. He is trying to buy a few months of goodwill before the reality of his “China Pivot” sets in.
Take the money. You earned it; your taxes paid for it. But do not mistake it for help.
The $628 in your account is real. But so is the $1,900 bill coming for your family because our government decided to play explicitly dangerous games with our economic sovereignty.
Carney has made his choice: Beijing over Washington. Now he’s paying you to look the other way while the bill comes due.
Sources & Reference Material
- CRA Confirms $628 Grocery Rebate — True North Media
- Cost of Canada-U.S. Trade Disruption — Canadian Chamber of Commerce
- Canada’s Food Price Report 2026 — Dalhousie University
- PM Carney says old order is not coming back — CBC News
