Reliance on food banks reaches all-time high: Feed Ontario

New data from Feed Ontario finds that more than a million people in Ontario needed food bank services in the last year.

The organization also notes food banks in the province were visited more than 7.5 million times in the course of the year.

Reliance on food banks between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, increased by 25 per cent compared to the previous year.

“To be quite honest, I still find the numbers, shocking and completely sobering," said Carolyn Stewart, Feed Ontario CEO.

"I didn't think we'd ever reach that threshold.”

There has also been a 134 per cent increase since 2019-2020, which Feed Ontario said represents a continuous rise of food bank visits, marking an all-time high and the eighth consecutive year of growth.

The data points to food insecurity as the main driver, a result of a rapid spike in the cost of living.

“We see the bulk of our clients being Ontario Works clients, disability, and seniors on pensions," said Debbie Marson of the North Bay Food Bank.

"It’s people that are working but that are really struggling.”

Debbie Marson of the North Bay Food Bank said most of their clients are Ontario Works clients, disability and seniors on pensions. (Photo from video)

The organization points to policy decisions like the erosion of social support programs and not enough investment in affordable housing as reasons why many Ontarians can’t keep their head above water.

Donations are also drying up, which means food banks are starting to see empty shelves -- and a growing concern that some may have to close their doors.

"They were never built for this," Stewart said.

"We were about to be an emergency measure for an emergency need, not as a long term, social safety net."

The data is no surprise to Marson. She said the North Bay Food Bank has seen an increase in demand, year after year.

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"Between January and August, we’ve put out 3,256 hampers," Marson said.

"That equates to serving over 4,000 adults and 1,700 children."

With the province entering the final year of a five-year poverty reduction strategy, Feed Ontario is calling for a more robust poverty reduction strategy to make sure struggling Ontarians can access a basic standard of living.