More than half a million people accessed food banks in Ontario during pandemic
Feed Ontario released its 2021 Hunger Report recently, and it shows food bank usage is soaring in the province.
Feed Ontario said more than 590,000 people in the province accessed food banks over the course of a year. The organization looked at food bank visits starting in April 2020 to the end of March 2021.
Officials said this is the largest single-year increase in a decade.
“This equates to approximately 3.6 billion times, so a 12 per cent increase from last year in terms of how many times they’ve come to food banks,” said Siu Mee Cheng, executive director with Feed Ontario.
“Sadly, of this population we are seeing some of society's most vulnerable visiting the food banks.”
Cheng said food banks also saw a 36 per cent increase in the number of older adults.
“That is the population group that saw the biggest increase in the foodbank data," she said.
"In fact, we’ve seen a 64 per cent increase since 2008. So that is the largest group that has grown on the foodbank visits."
Feed Ontario said it expects the numbers will be even higher in next year’s report.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Gangs netting up to US$3 trillion a year as Southeast Asia human trafficking becomes a global crisis, Interpol says
Human trafficking-fuelled fraud is exploding in Southeast Asia with organized crime rings raking in close to US$3 trillion in illicit revenue annually, the head of Interpol has said in comments that reveal the huge profits being earned by cartels.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Statistics Canada reports real GDP up 0.6% in January as Quebec strikes end
Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product grew 0.6 per cent in January, helped by the end of public sector strikes in Quebec in November and December.
Ukrainian child asylum seekers in St. John’s get class of their own
Roughly 50 children will gathered in a St. John’s classroom for the first time on Saturday for unique lessons on Ukrainian language, culture and history.