Question Period Note: FOOD INSECURITY AND FOOD BANK USE

Publication of Feed Ontario’s Hunger Report 2024.

• The Government recognizes that many Canadians continue to struggle because of higher food costs.

• The Government has made several enhancements to key programs such as the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers Benefit, and Old Age Security. These programs are indexed to keep pace with the cost of living and improve the ability of Canadians to afford essentials, including food.

• The Government also continues to work to help bring down the cost of groceries such as by implementing measures to strengthen competition in the grocery sector. By lowering costs, the Government is working to help ensure all Canadians are able to make ends meet.

• The Government will continue to support Canadians and build an economy that helps every generation get ahead by investing in housing, affordable child care, in school food for children and lowering everyday costs.

Feed Ontario Hunger Report
• Key findings from the 2024 Hunger Report indicate that:
o 1,001,105 unique individuals accessed Ontario food banks in 2023-2024. This is a 25% increase over the last year, and an 86% increase since 2019-2020.
o There were 7,689,580 visits to Ontario food banks in 2023-2024. This is a 31% increase over the last year, and a 134% increase since 2019-2020.
o New visitors made up 43% of food bank users in 2023-2024, a 2% increase from last year and 43% increase since 2019-2020.
o Over three-quarters (75.9%) of food bank users lived in market rental housing, an 80% increase since 2019-2020.
o The number of households accessing food banks and experiencing some form of homelessness (unsheltered, emergency sheltered, or provisionally sheltered) increased by 109% since 2019-2020.
o 53.1% of food bank users were single, 15% were two parent households, 14.7% were single parent households, 10% were other, and 7.2% were couples without children.
o The number of people with employment accessing food banks is growing; 24% of food bank users cited employment as their primary income source, a 17% increase over the last year and a 91% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels. Of these, 42% of workers earned minimum wage or less.
• Feed Ontario represents a network of more than 1,200 food banks and hunger-relief organizations in Ontario and through its network, serves more than 1 million people each year. In addition to this, Feed Ontario advocates for evidence-based programs and solutions to food insecurity and poverty in Ontario. Feed Ontario’s Hunger Report looks at provincial trends in food bank usage using two key metrics: “unique individuals,” which represents the number of people who accessed a food bank in their network at least one time (the breadth of demand), and “visits,” which represents the total number of times all individuals received emergency food support (the depth of need).
• The report points to inaction on providing adequate social assistance rates through Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) contributing to escalating food bank use, with 1 in 2 visitors citing one of these 2 programs as their primary source of income in 2023-2024.The report notes that fewer Ontarians than ever before are receiving Employment Insurance (EI), which provides more financial support than Ontario Works and ODSP. Only 27% of unemployed Ontarians received EI last year, despite 48% of unemployed people in the province contributing to the program.
• The report also emphasizes that the surge in demand for food banks (in 2019-2020, just over 537,000 people visited a food bank versus 1 million people in 2023-2024, an 86% increase) has led to unprecedented strain on food banks and their ability to offer support. Within Feed Ontario’s network, 38% of food banks have had to reduce the amount of food they provide per visit, and nearly half now offer fewer wraparound services (such as tax clinics, employment clinics, and thrift stores) than they did in 2019.
• The report also includes data on the Material Deprivation Index recently developed by Food Banks Canada, which it positions as an alternative to Canada’s Official Poverty Line (based on the Market Basket Measure), noting that sub-indicators within this index such as unmet heath needs (+85%), food insecurity (+44%) and food bank use (+31%) have all shown signs of a worsening situation while income-based indicators such as Canada’s Official Poverty line have been on a declining trend between 2018 and 2022.

The Government of Canada’s Approach to Measuring Food Insecurity

• Food insecurity is defined as the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints.

• Official food insecurity indicators are derived based on responses to 18 self-reporting questions on adults’ (10 questions) and children’s (8 questions) food security experiences, which make up the Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) of the Canadian Income Survey (CIS).

• The HFSSM module has been included in the annual Canadian Income Survey (CIS) since 2018. The module was also included in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) in past years.

• Three levels of food insecurity can be derived from HFSSM questions:
o ‘Marginal food insecurity’: refers to situations where a household responds affirmatively to no more than 1 question in either the adult or children questions. This level of food insecurity reflects indications of worry about running out of food and/or limited food selection due to a lack of money.

o ‘Moderate food insecurity’: requires 2-5 affirmative responses to adult questions or 2-4 affirmative responses to children questions. This level of food insecurity reflects indications of compromise in quality and/or quantity of food consumed.

o ‘Severe food insecurity’: requires 6 or more affirmative responses to adult questions or 5 or more affirmative responses to children questions. This level of food insecurity reflects indications of reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns.

Key food insecurity statistics

The following table shows key food insecurity estimates for the 2018 and 2022 reference years. Data for 2022 is the most recent data available.

Overall Percentage and Number of Canadians Facing Food Insecurity (all levels)
2018 2022
Rate Number Rate Number
Total Population 16.8% 6,099,000 22.9% 8,689,000
Children (under 18 years) 22.2% 1,559,000 28.4% 2,100,000
Seniors (65 years and over) 8.1% 499,000 11.7% 841,000
Men 16.7% 3,022,000 22.6% 4,269,000
Women 16.8% 3,077,000 23.1% 4,420,000
Visible minority population .. .. 27.3% 3,007,000
Indigenous population (aged 15+) 28.6% 223,000 35.7% 317,000
Recent immigrants (10 years or less) (aged 15+) 22.2% 538,000 28.4% 775,000
Family Types:
Persons in couple families with children 17.9% 2,324,000 24.7% 3,329,000
Persons in lone-parent families 42.2% 674,000 43.4% 891,000
Elderly persons not in an economic family 10.4% 191,000 13.4% 249,000
Non-elderly persons not in an economic family 24.5% 1,028,000 30.5% 1,402,000
Source: Canadian Income Survey (Statistics Canada)

Federal action on food insecurity
• Budget 2019 announced over $134.4 million in initial investments to support a Food Policy for Canada. Led by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the policy is meant to ensure that all Canadians “are able to access a sufficient amount of safe, nutritious, and culturally diverse food [and that] Canada’s food system is resilient and innovative, sustains our environment and supports our economy.” The Food Policy for Canada aligns with the objectives of initiatives across the federal government, such as the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the Heathy Eating Strategy, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy, among others.
• As part of the implementation of the Food Policy, AAFC announced the Local Food Infrastructure Fund, a five-year, $60 million initiative, ending March 31, 2024, which supports community-based initiatives to strengthen food systems and improve food access.
• Budget 2021 committed to providing $400 million in 2021-22 (extended to 2023-24) to create a temporary Community Services Recovery Fund to help the charitable and non-profit sector adapt and modernize from the challenges faced due to the pandemic. This included organizations that addressed food insecurity and supported access to food.
• Budget 2022 included several measures that will help to reduce poverty and inequality. These measures include a comprehensive plan to make housing more affordable, providing dental care for low-income Canadians and implementing an employment strategy for persons with disabilities. The Government continues to work with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to implement a Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care.
• Budget 2022 also affirmed the 2021 Mandate Letter commitment of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and explore how more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at school.
• In March 2022, a new phase of the Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF) was launched, with an investment of up to $20 million. This funding, available over the next two years, will support community-based and not-for-profit organizations in their efforts to create long-term solutions to address food security challenges.
• Also in 2022, the Government announced the Affordability Plan⁠, a suite of measures totaling $12.1 billion in new support to help make life more affordable for millions of Canadians, including enhancements to existing benefits such as the Canada Workers Benefit and Goods and Services Tax Credit, as well as new investments in dental care and housing affordability.
• Budget 2023 introduced targeted inflation relief for the most vulnerable Canadians to help support them with the cost of living, including those hardest hit by rising food prices. It introduced a one-time Grocery Rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families. The Grocery Rebate provided eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467; single Canadians without children with up to an extra $234; and seniors with an extra $225 on average.
• Further, Budget 2024 continued to support Canadians and build an economy that helps every generation get ahead by investing housing, affordable child care, in school food for children and lowering everyday costs.
o The Government committed $1 billion over five years in federal funding to create a National School Food Program, to provide up to 400,000 more children healthy meals each year across Canada.
o As well, the Government would continue to help bring down the cost of groceries by implementing measures to strengthen competition in the grocery sector, monitor grocers' work to help stabilize prices, and tackle shrinkflation to uphold the food sizes and qualities Canadians expect.
o The Government also provided $62.9 million over three years starting in 2024-25 to renew and expand the Local Food Infrastructure Fund to support community organizations across Canada to invest in local food infrastructure, with priority to be given to Indigenous and Black communities, along with other equity-deserving groups.

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