Food Banks Canada report paints dire picture of Canada-wide affordability crisis

There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive.

"We see parents who are skipping meals so that their children can eat. We see people who haven't eaten in days. We see seniors who haven't had produce in months," said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with Greater Vancouver Food Banks.

More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs.

Boulter said the "unprecedented, record-breaking times" are being felt by food banks across the country, where nearly two million people visited in the month of March, 32 per cent more than the same month the year before, and a 78 per cent increase compared with March 2019.

The numbers, contained in Food Banks Canada's annual Hunger Count report, highlight how Canadians are more food insecure than ever before as governments have seemingly ignored "blaring alarm bells," the report said.

The data was collected from food banks across Canada, and this year's Hunger Count, as well as other studies, show more and more Canadians are "struggling to pay for basic expenses, and that levels of food insecurity are rising dramatically."

Seniors, single mothers, low-income workers, people on social assistance, and immigrants continue to drive food bank use, but this year's report showed a rise in use among working people in higher income brackets.