Everything You Need To Know About Canada’s Food Guide

This post was originally published in January 2019 and updated in 2026.

Eat Well. Live Well. With those bold words emblazoned across the top, the most recent iteration of Canada’s Food Guide was published in 2019.

The new food guide is much wider in scope than the old, single-page rainbow food guide. It also offers an online suite of resources including actionable advice, videos and even recipes.

In the Food Guide Snapshot—a high-level overview of not just what Canadians eat, but how they should eat—the old rainbow has been replaced with photography of real food. The two-page document starts with a simple picture of a plate, with the following advice:

Canada’s New Food Guide’s Recommendations On Healthy Eating

• • Have plenty of vegetables and fruits (visually: half your plate)
• • Eat protein foods (visually: a quarter of your plate)
• • Choose whole-grain foods (visually: a quarter of your plate)
• • Make water your drink of choice

The back of the document focuses on how we make food choices. It reminds Canadians to cook more often, eat meals with others, be mindful of their eating habits and enjoy food. It also advises us to use food labels, be aware of food marketing and limit foods high in sodium, sugars or saturated fat.

How Health Canada made the new dietary guidelines

The two-pager for consumers is paired with a lengthier resource called Canada’s Dietary Guidelines for Health Professionals and Policy Makers, which provides the evidence and rationale for their decisions. It’s based on thorough, info-packed evidence reviews. To prepare these documents, Health Canada examined over 100 systematic reviews on food topics, and notes that industry-commissioned reports were excluded from the review, in order to reduce any conflicts of interest.

In fact, all of the media speculation that food companies, commodity groups and lobbying boards would be able to sneak in and add their voice to the food guide were unfounded. Health Canada stayed true to their original vision and did not meet with industry representatives to discuss the food guide. The final document is based on what they believe to be the most up-to-date nutrition science, not on the biased opinions of industry. It’s a win for Canadians.

What’s new in this food guide?

1. An emphasis on plant-based proteins

As predicted, the guide emphasizes getting protein from plant-based sources such as beans, lentils and nuts, rather than always choosing animal-based foods such as milk, meat and poultry (which are still part of the guide, too, just in a reduced capacity). This is a huge departure from the four food groups many of us grew up with, which literally contained the words “milk” and “meat.” This factor will get lots of news coverage, and, likely, pushback from the meat and dairy industries. But it is presented as being better for the environment, and aligns nicely with the Planetary Health Diet.

2. More whole grains, less refined grains

Grain products used to include both refined and whole grain items, but now only whole grains are emphasized. The focus on filling one-quarter of your plate with whole grains will also get some pushback, both from groups that sell refined grain products (white bread, pasta, cereals and rice), but also from advocates who believe that grain-free or low-carb diets are a preferred dietary pattern.

3. Way less sugar (so long, juice and pop)

The guide is also very focused on reducing sugar intake, especially from beverages. Sugary beverages are the number-one source of sugar in the Canadian diet. Pop, sweetened milk and juice are de-emphasized, while water, milk, plant-based beverages, coffee and tea are encouraged. The Pepsi-and-Coke-funded Canadian Juice Council will not be pleased. And talking about beverages, alcohol is also noted as a beverage to cut back on, because of links to liver disease and some types of cancer. (The latest guidance on alcohol consumption, released in 2023, recommends both men and women consume less than two standard alcohol drinks per week.)

What’s the guidance on portion size?

The Canada Food Guide recommends that adult women consume the following:

• 7 to 8 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (1 serving = 1/2 cup)
• 6 to 7 servings of grains per day (1 serving = 1 slice bread, half a bagel, 1/2 cup cooked rice or pasta, 3/4 cup cereal)
• 2 servings of milk or milk alternatives per day (1 serving = 1 cup milk or fortified soy milk, 3/4 yogurt or kefir, 50 g cheese)
• 2 servings of meat or meat alternatives per day (1 serving = 75 g meat, 3/4 cup beans or tofu, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1/4 cup nuts)