Greg Cowie, who lives on disability support, says he’s been forced to budget creatively to get by — after rent, he has about $300 a month for groceries.
To make it work, he buys a small roast and slices it into thin steaks to last weeks, alternating with cheaper meals like hot dogs, canned ravioli or rice. Sharing an apartment with a roommate helps reduce household costs.
“If you shop for groceries, you know it’s about $150 a week to have a comfortable meal,” Cowie said, while shopping at a Costco in London, Ont. “So all in all, the cost of living is uncomfortable, difficult.”
Stories like these are playing out across the country, according to Food Banks Canada. The national non-profit, representing over 500 local food banks, released its annual report card on Tuesday, giving Canada a grade of D and detailing a 40 per cent increase in food insecurity in the last two years. More than a quarter of all Canadians are struggling to get the food they need, it says.
Ontario’s growing ’emergency’
In Ontario, food banks say the demand is pushing them past their limits. At Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank, CEO Neil Hetherington says the crisis is clear.
“We see that in Toronto every single day, the volunteers are coming out because we need to feed more than one in 10 Torontonians,” he said. “So we’re seeing the horrific stats play out on the ground, and it’s fuelling us to be able to advocate louder.”
The report says there are early signs of decreasing food insecurity due to recent federal programs like dental care and the $13-billion pledge to build more housing. But Hetherington says it will take more time before the impacts of those programs are widely felt.
“What can happen in the upcoming budget in just two months is further enhancing the candidate’s disability benefit. Right now it’s at $200 per month. Somebody who is on disability income is living in deep poverty.”
The report also highlights the rise of unemployment, up 34 per cent over two years. Food Banks Canada says that’s impacting youth the most. Hetherington says the federal government needs to make sure those young people aren’t left behind.
“When we are building these homes, they are built by some of the youth from across the country, going into skilled trades. I want to make sure that there are reforms to EI. And mostly we just want to make sure that every Canadian can have the opportunity to thrive in community,” said Hetherington.
Across Ontario, cities are seeing the same trend: that of food insecurity.
Orillia is the latest Ontario municipality to declare a food insecurity emergency, joining a growing list of municipalities warning they can’t keep pace with demand at local food banks. Toronto, Mississauga, Kingston, Smith Falls, Cochrane and Brockville have all declared food insecurity emergencies.
A national issue
How Canada has fared on Food Banks Canada’s report card in past years:
The latest HungerCount report from Food Banks Canada shows usage has reached record highs across the country. In 2024, nearly two million Canadians visited a food bank in a single month, up 30 per cent from the year before.
Kirstin Beardsley, CEO of Food Banks Canada, says front-line workers have been seeing the impact to low-income families for years.
“The most shocking number for me is the number of people who are experiencing food insecurity in Canada right now. So a full 25.5% of the Canadian population,” said Beardsley. “What we’re seeing for low-income folks is that they’re spending well over 50 per cent of their incomes on rent alone, which gives them no financial resilience to meet challenges.”
Beardsley says decades of neglect of the social safety net, combined with skyrocketing housing and food costs, have pushed families to the brink. Still, she says there is some momentum on policies like school food programs and pharmacare.
“All of these points point to legislative progress in the right direction,” she said. “This will have a real impact on low-income folks’ lives, and we need to continue that momentum into this budget and into the future so that fewer people experience food insecurity going forward.”
What’s next for Canada?
But not everyone is hopeful.
Valerie Tarasuk, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto who studies food insecurity, says the situation is worsening.
“We have a very serious problem with food insecurity in Canada. And in the last few years, it’s gotten a lot worse,” she said. “Personally, I can see nothing on the horizon that suggests that it’s going to get better. So yeah, I think D is what’s deserved,” she added, referring to the report card’s grade for the federal government.
Tarasuk says the core issue is income.
“I think we have a fundamental problem with income that needs to be addressed, and building more housing isn’t going to address that income issue,” she said.
For Beardsley, the stakes are clear.
“The growth we’ve seen at food banks is unsustainable, so we need to see governments take action,” she said. “I want to imagine a future where people hear our message, prioritize the needs of low-income folks, the folks who come to food banks and write a different future for our country.”
Food Banks Canada recommends legislating automatic tax filing, modernizing employment insurance, enhancing the Canada Child Benefit and introducing the Groceries and Essentials Benefit through the GST credit system.
Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Jobs and Families, says she has yet to read the report but says the government is already working on a solution.
“Part of the solution, not the entire solution, is making sure that people can access food where they’re at, which is why I think the national food program, a school food program, is such a critical component,” said Hajdu.
The National School Food Program was announced as part of the federal government’s budget in 2024. The program aims to feed thousands of students across the country every year, including those in lower-income families and some Indigenous communities.
