More Ontarians relying on food banks and visiting them more frequently, advocates say
Ontario residents have been visiting food banks in greater numbers and more often for six years running, a coalition of hunger relief organizations said Monday, noting the troubling trend appeared to escalate during the most recent year on record.
The findings are laid out in a new report from Feed Ontario, a collective of 1,200 direct and affiliate food banks and other organizations that work to address food insecurity.
The annual Hunger Report, subtitled "The Deepening Cracks in Ontario's Economic Foundation," found 587,000 adults and children visited the province's food banks a total of 4.3 million times betweenApril 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022. Feed Ontario said that represents a 15 per cent spike in the number of people turning to food banks for aid and a 42 per cent surge in the number of visits compared to numbers recorded in 2019.
The report said the findings, which mark the sixth straight year of increasing food bank users and visits, also illustrate the strain the system is facing.
"It is the largest amount of people accessing our services on record since we've started collecting data and writing these reports," Feed Ontario Executive Director Carolyn Stewart said in an interview.
"The pressures that ... low-income Ontarians and marginalized groups are feeling with the unaffordability of today is exceptionally concerning. The fact that so many people are now having to rely on emergency food support to get by should be worrying all of us, not just Feed Ontario."
The organization is calling on the provincial government to tackle a rise in low-quality work, invest in government-assisted housing, improve social assistance and centre people with lived experiences in the design of public policy and programs.
"There's concern in the food bank networks that donations will not be sufficient to meet the need, that we won't have enough food resources for this continuing growing need of people," Stewart said.
The report found one in every three visitors was a first-time food bank user.
It attributed the spike to long-standing issues such as precarious employment, inaccessible unemployment aid and inadequate supports for those with disabilities, as well as more recent factors like rising inflation and the increased cost of living.
"Social assistance rates are continuing to fall far below low-income measures," said Stewart. "That, being coupled with unaffordable housing, is really making it impossible to afford the most basic necessities for many individuals."
Those who visited food banks in the past two years cited food and housing costs, low wages or insufficient work hours as the driving factors behind their visits.
"Imagine you already had a budget that was stretched thin. You're already making impossible choices between keeping a roof over your head or keeping your lights on, buying winter clothes for your child or paying for more medication you might need," said Stewart, noting those who turn to food banks are facing such dilemmas every day.
She said 30 per cent of food bank clients are children and youth under the age of 18, a number that has remained consistent in recent years. More than 50 per cent of those accessing such centres are on some form of social assistance, she added.
Stewart said food banks are now being asked to serve a role they were never designed to fulfil.
"We were developed as a stopgap measure in the '80s and we were never intended to be a social safety net," said Stewart.
"We were supposed to be turned to in terms of emergencies. But now as more and more Ontarians are unable to afford their most basic necessities, at what point is it enough?"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.