Food banks across Canada overwhelmed with nearly two million visits in one month
Food banks across Canada are “in crisis mode” as they are overwhelmed with demand amid the cost of living crisis, according to a new report.
Food Banks Canada released its HungerCount 2023 report on Wednesday and its findings show the devastating impact of inflation.
“Relentless inflation and a broken social safety net have caused many people who never thought they would need a food bank to walk through the doors for the first time,” said CEO Kirstin Beardsley in a statement.
“With food banks across Canada in crisis mode, as demand reaches new all-time highs, we must ask: when is it enough before we act?”
“We can’t keep up with this level of growth. It’s not sustainable.”
Canada is a nation struggling to make ends meet. #HungerCount2023 found there were almost 2M visits to food banks in March – up by 32% in 2022 and 78.5% in 2019. https://t.co/vMwaf62IlX pic.twitter.com/qSeYiJRJ9f
— Food Banks Canada | Banques alimentaires Canada (@foodbankscanada) October 25, 2023
According to the report, food bank use rose to the highest levels in Canadian history in 2023.
In just the month of March, there were 1,935,911 visits to food banks in Canada.
The report says the top reasons people accessed a food bank this year were grocery costs, housing costs, low wages, or not enough hours of work.
Use among people who are employed even continued to increase to record levels this year with 17% of clients reporting employment as their main source of income, compared to 12% in 2019.
Even more concerning, one-third of these clients are children.
“The sad reality is that nothing will change until governments in Canada hear the alarm bells that have been ringing for far too long,” said Beardsley.
“Governments at all levels must respond. By focusing on urgent affordability issues and fixing our broken social safety net, a better path forward is possible – a Canada where no one goes hungry.”
Food Banks Canada urges governments to rebuild “outdated and broken” social supports, increase construction of affordable housing units, introduce rental assistance programs, introduce employment insurance and living wage reforms, and provide attention to food insecurity and poverty in remote parts of Canada.
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