As prices soar, foodbanks brace for higher demand into 2023
As prices soar, foodbanks brace for higher demand into 2023
The surge in food prices is expected to continue into the New Year, according to a new report.
Canada’s Food Price Report indicates Canadians will be spending five to seven per cent more in groceries in 2023.
For a family of four, that equals to $16,288 per year, a $1,065 increase from 2022.
Simon Somogyi is a Guelph University professor who worked on the study.
“One of the highest periods of food price inflation in the last 40 years, so it’s very tough for Canadian families,” he said.
Somogyi said general inflation, the war in Ukraine, drought in the United States and a low Canadian dollar contributed to rising prices.
For food banks that have seen an increase in visitors, the news is concerning.
A report released by Feed Ontario last month found food bank usage is at an all-time high and there’s been a 64 per cent increase in first-time users in Ontario.
Dan Xilon, executive director of the Sudbury Food Bank, said he’s not surprised.
“There’s so many things out there like wars and famine and also shortages, drought. It’s not really a surprise that we’re going to have the challenges through 2023,” said Xilon.
“The question is, as the food bank, how are we going to handle those challenges?”
He said milk is already set to rise next year and jam is more expensive, leading to the food bank stopping carrying it for now.
Xilon said an increase in demand for food is unavoidable.
“In this food report, they’re saying food costs (are) going up seven, eight, 12 per cent,” he said.
“I don’t know anyone who’s getting those kind of raises, especially into 2023.”
Somogyi expects grocery prices will be high at the start of 2023, but then things will change.
“We’ll see food prices spike at the start of the year and then, from the middle of the year onwards, they’ll drop,” he said.
“So in 12 months from now, we’ll see lower prices into 2024.”
To curb the costs, Somogyi recommended shopping where there are deals, choosing frozen produce over fresh when possible and buying in bulk.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A gay man issues a court challenge over Canada's policy restricting sperm bank donations, a Quebec woman is surprised to find her stolen car had been used in brazen Ontario robbery, and actor Ryan Reynolds drops by a Toronto college and surprises students. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
In Washington progress on police brutality appears difficult, if not unlikely. Bipartisan efforts to reach an agreement on policing legislation stalled more than a year ago, and President Joe Biden ended up instead signing an executive order named for George Floyd, whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police set off nationwide protests nearly three years ago.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
It's Groundhog Day! Canadians are waiting to learn whether some furry critters in Nova Scotia and Ontario will predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Ottawa ranks 45th out of 62 cities across Canada and the United States in a study on downtown recovery, with activity levels at 51 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
While crews have resumed operations in an attempt to open the Rideau Canal Skateway for its 53rd season, an NCC spokesperson tells CTV News Ottawa the canal will not open in time for the first weekend of Winterlude on Friday.
Wiarton Willie is set to make his spring prediction Thursday at 8:07 a.m. If the groundhog sees his shadow it will mean another six weeks of winter, but if he doesn’t, we could get an early spring.
A hearing is underway to determine if Udo Haan is not criminally responsible for the death of his wife Edra Haan, who was found in the aftermath of the 2018 house explosion in Kitchener, Ont.
Chief Mark Crowell made a presentation at a council meeting Wednesday justifying the proposed $214 million budget for the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS).
It's Groundhog Day! Canadians are waiting to learn whether some furry critters in Nova Scotia and Ontario will predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Bostwick Road has reopened following a serious crash on Wednesday evening. Around 7:20 p.m., emergency crews responded to the scene in south London for the incident involving two vehicles.
On Wednesday, London International Airport and Flair Airlines announced the newest destination out of London, Ont., and if you’re a fan of Slurpees, then you might just be in luck.
It's Groundhog Day! Canadians are waiting to learn whether some furry critters in Nova Scotia and Ontario will predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Following a suicide bomb blast that killed more than 100 people in a mosque in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar, community leaders in Windsor-Essex are reminding people these attacks are rare and should not be simply dismissed as a byproduct of living in that part of the world.
Canada's new special representative on combating Islamophobia has apologized for words that hurt Quebecers after leaders in that province called for her resignation.
Longueuil police (SPAL) arrested Gilles Croteau, 57, in the Saint-Hubert borough on Jan. 24 after an investigation that led to 31 arrests across Quebec for various sex offences, including child pornography possession and production.
A new 911 dispatch system in New Brunswick means that now fire departments aren’t getting dispatched to all medical calls leaving residents waiting and first responders in the dark.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
Calgary police are looking for suspects involved in an altercation that lasted for approximately an hour, spanned several communities and ended with a gun being fired.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service officials are encouraging any local victims to come forward following the arrest of actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse in Las Vegas on sex assault charges.
Alberta's former chief medical officer of health has landed a new role in British Columbia. Dr. Deena Hinshaw was named a deputy provincial health officer for B.C. on Wednesday.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Changes to the amount of time the public gets to voice their opinion during Surrey City Council meetings has caused controversy among former councillors.
