Food bank usage in Canada soars to all-time high
Why It Matters
The rise in food insecurity in Canada highlights the larger economic pressures Canadians face, showing the real effects of the affordability crisis and the need for systemic solutions.
Food bank usage has once again increased to historic highs across Canada, according to the latest data.
According to Food Bank Canada’s 2025 Hunger Count, more than 2.2 million people visited food banks in March this year, a 5.2 per cent increase from the same time last year.
Nationally, food bank usage rates have doubled since 2019, illustrating a growing struggle with food insecurity nationwide.
“We cannot build a strong Canada when our neighbours are hungry,” Kirstin Beardsley, CEO of Food Banks Canada, said in its press release.
“We can make new choices. We can turn Canada’s HungerCount around. It starts by feeding greatness and valuing human potential.”
Alberta saw the sharpest rise in food bank use, with roughly 21 per cent more residents turning to food banks in 2025 than in 2024.
Across Canada, many people who use food banks have jobs but cannot afford to put food on the table.
More than 19 per cent of people who use food banks in Canada say they are employed, up from 12 per cent in 2019.
The rise highlights how inflation has reduced the purchasing power of Canadians, the Hunger Count noted.
Annual inflation increased to 2.4 per cent in September, but food inflation outpaced it at four per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
In Nova Scotia, the province saw a 10.3 per cent increase in food bank usage in the past year alone, according to the Hunger Count.
“With social assistance rates being lower than the poverty line, it’s no wonder that our neighbours have no choice but to turn to food support,” says Ash Avery, executive director of Feed Nova Scotia.
The organization is calling on the provincial and federal governments to immediately improve income assistance and tax credit programs and implement a basic income guarantee program.
“Charity is not the solution. More food will not solve food insecurity. We do not want to be back here next year with similar statistics,” said Avery. “We need government intervention, at all levels, and we need it now.”
In Ontario, December will mark one year since the City of Toronto declared food insecurity an emergency.
“This isn’t just a crisis of food, it’s a crisis of income, housing, and affordability,” said Ryan Noble, executive director of North York Harvest Food Bank.
“Toronto is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, yet thousands of our neighbours are going hungry.”
The organization released its annual Who’s Hungry report this week in partnership with Daily Bread, specifically looking at food insecurity in Toronto.
The research found that more than 1.4 million people visited food banks in Toronto between April 2024 and March this year.
Five years ago, it had fewer than one million users.
It also found that more than one in 10 people in Toronto use a food bank.
“Every food bank visit is a policy failure,” said Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread.
“Charity alone cannot solve a crisis this deep. It’s time for coordinated action from all levels of government.”
Food Banks Canada says it wants three significant policy changes to address the growing food insecurity.
It asks all levels of government to tackle the root causes of poverty, make life more affordable in Canada, and specifically address Northern food insecurity.
“If we prioritize resources and invest in the policies that matter most, we can build a Canada where everyone has access to the food they need to thrive,” added Beardsley.
She’d like the government to invest in policies that reduce food insecurity by half by 2030.
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