Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Thurs. December 4th, 2025

Expect tomorrow’s food to take up a bigger share of household budgets. That’s according to the latest Food Price Report, which is collectively produced by several Canadian universities. It’s projecting that an average family-of-four will pay an additional $994.63 in food for 2026 compared to 2025. The main culprits behind the expected price hike: Trade and Climate Change. Kristy Cameron sifts through the data with Mike Von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph. Meantime, recent data analysis from the Ottawa Citizen says that over half of public servants – in dozens of federal departments – do not have assigned workspaces. This comes amid circulating rumours that a full-time return-to-office mandate could be in store for federal employees. We dig deeper with Linda Duxbury, a Professor of Management at Carleton University. She pays us a visit in Hour 2.