Why are one-third of non-profit workers food insecure?
Why It Matters
There is an urgent need for better funding models in the social sector that prioritize living wages and sustainability.
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Four years ago, 85 per cent of workers at the non-profit Red Deer Food Bank were not making a living wage.
It was a concerning stat for newly hired Executive Director Mitch Thomson, who knew that to retain employees, that needed to change.
“In our space specifically, I can find money for capital projects every day of the week, but I do not find monies that support operations nearly to the same degree,” said Thomson.
The funding constraint is a frustration many Canadian non-profits share, who often must choose capital projects over paying fair wages, said Thomson.
A shocking 34 per cent of community non-profit workers report being food insecure, according to new data from Future of Good’s Changemaker Wellbeing Index.
This means in some cases, very workers supporting vulnerable communities are now turning to the same organizations they serve for help.
Thomson noted that since he joined the food bank four years ago, 90 per cent of his staff now earn a living wage, a significant shift from where the organization once stood.
Maintaining or reaching that criteria can be difficult for non-profits, who rely on funding to operate, said Thomson
”If we do not provide adequate pay then we outgrow staff or they retire and just not really have gotten ahead, that’s a sad truth,” Thomson said.
Creating food bank clients
If non-profits aren’t working to solve the problem, then they’re adding to the issue, Thomson added.
“There’s a few people out there that are former staff that I see as clients,” he said about his Red Deer Food Bank.
“My fear is that some of the folks that we have with us now, that have been employed by the food bank for many years, have traditionally been underpaid,” said Thomson.
“Therefore, they may retire from long careers without any significant needs to maintain themselves in retirement.”
Transformation starts with supporting the next generation of changemakers.
Young people working in non-profit roles are more at risk of turning to a food bank, according to Future of Good’s data.
Younger employees aged 18–29, have the highest rates of food insecurity at 44 per cent.
“If we don’t do enough to maintain our staff in our organizations and provide for them effectively, we may indeed be creating clients,” Thomson said.
Inflationary setbacks
Community non-profit workers make 32 per cent less than the national average, with the average employee earning $43,000 in 2021.
As the cost of living continues to climb, the demand for affordable food has surged and organizations like Food Stash are feeling the pressure.
The non-profit has been operating for nine years in Vancouver, providing dignified food access to those in need while preventing food from going to waste.
One of their programs is a weekly grocery market that can accommodate 160 shoppers, but the number barely begins to meet the demand.
“Our market runs on a lottery basis because there’s way more people who want to access it than we have capacity to serve,” said Carla Pellegrini, the executive director. ‘
“This last registration cycle, we had 350 people put their names in as being interested and we only have 160 spots.”
That’s a 75 per cent increase from the previous year in the number of people seeking low-cost food services, she added.
The faces of food insecurity can be hidden in plain sight, said Pellegrini.
They’re seniors stretching their pensions, single parents juggling bills, international students skipping meals to pay rent or newcomers navigating a new country on tight budgets.
Food Stash is a living wage employer, committed to paying its staff enough to cover the true cost of living, but that’s not always easy.
“Non-profits are expected to have really low administrative and staffing costs and all the dollars go to your programs and impact, but you can’t run the programs without the people,” said Pellegrini.
Many non-profits can’t commit to a living wage, not because they don’t want to, but because of funding constraints, she added
“Food insecurity is so widespread right now and the non-profit sector is chronically underfunded.”
Shifting the narrative
The “mission before money” mindset is an outdated way of thinking, according to Wendy Morrison, the founder of YZED Projects.
“There is this old system narrative still at play in the sector that non-profit workers should just be okay with low salaries because it’s mission-driven work,” she said.
“I think that collectively there needs to be a pushback on that.”
YZED is a Yukon-based social innovation company that finds impact solutions for non-profits.
One thing that she’s noticed in her position is the fear of asking for higher wages.
“There’s almost this fear of asking for more money for wages if it could put the mission work at risk.”
That mindset not only undervalues the people doing essential work, but also creates hesitation, where advocating for fair pay feels like a threat.
More than one-third of employees earning less than $50,000 annually report struggling to make ends meet, according to Future of Good’s findings.
“That’s a terrible place to put non-profit workers and boards, having to decide between the risk of losing funding because you’re ‘too noisy’ versus being able to give your staff the increases that they need to cover their basic expenses,” said Morrison.
Basic expenses such as food, something that’s seen a sharp price increase in the past year.
Canada’s Food Price Report predicted Canadian families would spend $801 more on food in 2025.
For many, that increase is not a feasible option, forcing families to turn to food banks.
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