The number of food bank users is the highest since 1989.
As a result of the high inflation that has continued since last year, the number of residents relying on food banks is rapidly increasing.
According to a recently released report, the use rate of food banks in Canada has reached its highest level since 1989, when the number of users began to be counted.
According to the report, the number of residents who used food banks across Canada in March of this year was 1.9 million, which is an increase of about 32% compared to the same period in 2022 and 78 cents higher compared to March 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.
The report also stated that the number of residents visiting food banks is increasing in line with the rise in prices and is like the situation 40 years ago when the recent growth rate in the number of users was the fastest.
In addition, approximately 17% of visitors were found to be unable to earn sufficient income to make a living.
In relation to this, Father Maggie Hellwig of St Stephen-in-the-Field Church said, “Anyone working in the relevant organizations feels that the situation is continuing to worsen,” and said that high prices are causing increasing difficulties for residents.
According to Father Hellwig, the number of residents attending the free dinner event held every Friday has increased to 130.
In relation to this, Father Hellwig said, “We are struggling to provide food to the residents who come every week. Although we do not have enough food, we are doing our best to provide at least one more piece of food to the residents who come.”
Due to this surge in demand, some food banks argued that the amount of support should be increased.
The Waterloo Region Food Bank stated, “Currently, the number of food bank users has reached a critical level,” and stated, “The annual support should be more than $1.6 million, twice as much as it is now.”
According to the report, the number of children and teenagers who used food banks during the counting period was 640,000, accounting for about one-third of all users.
In addition, the rate of new immigrants has increased significantly, with the number of new immigrants who have lived in Canada for less than 10 years reaching one-quarter of all users, which is about twice as much as the 2016 count.
In addition, the proportion of people of color among users rose from 32% to 40% the previous year, and about half of indigenous residents among food bank visitors said that they have continued to worry about food since last year, but only 15% of white residents in this situation are in the same situation. It stopped.