Canada's food guide plate and calorie calculator (2026)
Get your daily calorie estimate and water target, see the plate Health Canada recommends, and learn the seven healthy habits. Free and updated for 2026.
Is the Canada food guide still a thing?
Yes. Canada's food guide from 2019 is Health Canada's current guidance. It looks very different from the old one. The 2019 redesign replaced the four-colour rainbow and the daily serving counts with one plate: Canada's food guide plate.
Fill half the plate with vegetables and fruits. Fill a quarter with whole grain foods and a quarter with protein foods, choosing plant proteins like beans, lentils and tofu more often. Make water your drink of choice. Milk and dairy now count as protein foods.
The guide itself has no serving counts. Our free calculator works out your daily calories and water target from a few details about you.
What is Canada's food guide?
Canada's food guide is Health Canada's official advice on healthy eating. It has two parts: a plate to follow at meals and seven everyday habits.
What goes in each section
Vegetables and fruits bring vitamins, minerals and fibre. Whole grain foods include whole wheat bread and pasta, brown rice, oats and quinoa. Protein foods start with beans, lentils, tofu and nuts, then fish, eggs, lean meat and lower fat dairy.
The food groups page lists more foods for each section.
What replaced the four food groups?
| 2007 guide | 2019 guide (current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Four food groups in a rainbow | Canada's food guide plate |
| Amounts | Daily serving counts to track | Proportions, no counting |
| Milk & dairy | Its own food group | Part of protein foods |
| Protein | Meat and Alternatives | Protein foods, plant-based more often |
How much should you eat?
Let the plate and your hunger guide you. Keep to the shares at each meal. Health Canada also asks you to notice when you are hungry and when you are full.
Our calculator and Health Canada's
Health Canada's Dietary Reference Intakes Calculator estimates energy, water and nutrients with the 2023 equations. Our free calculator uses the IOM 2005 equations. The two calorie figures can therefore differ. Ours shows your calories and water target next to Canada's food guide plate and the seven habits.
Sources
MyPlate.food is independent and not affiliated with Health Canada.
- Health Canada: Canada's food guide (2019): Canada's food guide plate, its three sections, and water as the drink of choice.
- Health Canada: Canada's Dietary Guidelines: The evidence and recommendations behind the 2019 redesign.
- Health Canada's Dietary Reference Intakes Calculator: Health Canada's own tool for energy, water and nutrients, built on the 2023 energy equations.
- Joint Canada-US Dietary Reference Intakes: The energy and water reference values our calculator uses.