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Canadian food banks facing surge in demand

TORONTO —
A brand new report launched by Meals Banks Canada reveals that visits to meals banks throughout the nation have risen by 20 per cent since 2019, a stage of demand not seen because the 2008 recession.

Revealed Wednesday, the report is predicated on a analysis research involving greater than 4,750 meals banks and group organizations throughout the nation. Titled HungerCount 2021, it sheds a lightweight on the growing demand for meals financial institution providers throughout Canada.

Kirstin Beardsley, chief community providers officer at Meals Banks Canada, notes that whereas meals financial institution use was excessive in Canada previous to the pandemic, present circumstances are creating the “good storm” for a quickly rising variety of visits to meals banks throughout the nation.

“You’ve got obtained excessive housing prices, you have obtained excessive meals prices, and now you have obtained pandemic-related job losses and the claw-back of presidency helps,” she informed CTV Information Channel Thursday night. “We’re seeing that’s having an actual impact on the quantity of people that want our assist.”

Whereas meals insecurity exists in communities throughout Canada, it’s additionally largely impacted by regional elements similar to labour markets and value of residing, defined Beardsley. The report factors to provinces similar to Quebec, Alberta and Ontario as having skilled the biggest will increase in want, at 38 per cent, 29.6 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.

“It’s pushed by growing job loss,” stated Beardsley. “The upper variety of city centres in these provinces have seen astronomical progress. In some circumstances, meals banks have seen their shopper numbers double since earlier than the pandemic.”

The report additionally discovered that one third of shoppers are kids, regardless of representing 19 per cent of the inhabitants, and 1.3 million Canadians visited meals banks in March of this yr alone.

Among the many report’s key coverage suggestions is introducing a nationwide hire assist program to assist Canadians struggling to pay their hire or put meals on their desk. In line with Meals Banks Canada, slightly below 70 per cent of all meals financial institution shoppers in 2021 stay in personal rental market housing. Moreover, the overwhelming majority spend most of their revenue on hire and utilities, leaving little to cowl the price of meals.

“Whenever you’ve obtained low-income of us who’re paying above 50 per cent – and within the lowest revenue brackets, it is truly upwards of 70, 80, 90 per cent of their month-to-month revenue goes in the direction of hire — it is an untenable scenario,” stated Beardsley.

By offering assist to assist shoppers pay their hire, this may go away them with extra spending cash for meals, Beardsley stated.

“Meals insecurity in Canada is actually a problem associated to low incomes and poverty,” she stated. “That is why individuals go to the meals financial institution. It is probably not about meals a lot in any respect.”

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