A startling number of B.C. residents are dealing with hunger and food insecurity, a reality that has seen a spike since last year and an even bigger spike since the pandemic.
Food Banks BC just released its annual Hunger Report and found that the number of people using food banks is up nine per cent compared to last year.
The report states that the number of people relying on food banks actually hit a record high this year.
“Twenty-four per cent — or more than 1.4 million British Columbians — are now experiencing food insecurity,” reads the report.
It states that another reality is that many food banks, over 10 per cent, are having to turn people away. There were some other eye-opening findings in the report, like the fact that visits to food banks have “soared an astonishing 79 per cent since before the pandemic.”
The Hunger Report also revealed that more food bank users than ever (24 per cent) have income from employment.
Food Banks Canada 2025 HungerCount
Women, Indigenous People, people new to the region and people with disabilities are being disproportionately affected by food insecurity, and almost one-third of total food bank visitors are children.
Data from March 2025 shows that 33,000 children received food from B.C. food banks, which was 31 per cent of all clients.
Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks BC, says the rise in demand is “relentless.”
“For an increasing number of people, the food bank is no longer a temporary supplement during a difficult period, but a necessary, entrenched support lifeline. One in four people in this province are eating less, missing meals, and constantly worrying about where their next meal will come from, and the normalization of this is one of our gravest concerns.”
Huang-Taylor says systemic issues and the absence of focused government policies that address root causes are contributing to the crisis.
“Food banks demonstrate incredible resilience every day, but charity alone cannot solve this systemic crisis,” he said.
Many food banks around B.C. and in Canada have reported that they’re reducing the frequency of their services in order to sustain demand.
Food Banks BC and the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition have outlined four pillars to respond to the crisis: building community food security, improving household incomes, supporting Indigenous food sovereignty, and providing provincial governance and national leadership.
As part of the pillar for income, the report suggests advancing wage equity and building a plan to enact a basic income guarantee.
You can find more data on the crisis in the Food Banks BC report.