The faces of Canada’s food crisis

In the west end of Ottawa, the Parkdale Food Centre (PFC) is transforming responses to food insecurity with unique initiatives that offer choice and dignity. Clients of their PFC Grocery Program (Food Bank) are given monthly credits which can then be used towards “purchasing” food items of various kinds (fruit, dairy, etc.), as well as culturally appropriate items. This program provides healthy food to over 1,600 individuals each month.

Beyond the Grocery Program, PFC also offers a Community Kitchen, Community Advocacy and a Growing Futures Youth Program. The team believes that truly effective, equitable solutions begin with seeing people through the lens of inherent dignity and rights and actually listening to those most directly impacted.

The small team of dedicated staff is supported by a large base of energetic volunteers and a network of community partners. Together they run a wide range of programs including cooking workshops, social justice workshops for schools, leadership and employment training for youth and peer advocacy training.

PFC not only empowers people to meet the immediate needs of their own community but also lobbies the governments responsible for implementing systemic change. In recent years, the team is most concerned about the dramatic increases in neighbours living with food insecurity.

Behind the stats

Canada’s Official Poverty Dashboard estimates 10.9 percent of people in Canada lived in poverty in 2023 (this statistic only includes people living in the provinces). The same dashboard estimates that 19.1 percent of people lived in households experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, meaning they were skipping meals or not taking in adequate food because of a lack of money.
An even more recent statistic from the Canadian Income Survey estimated that in 2024, 25.5 percent of people in the ten provinces lived in a marginally, moderately or severely food-insecure household. These range from those who worry about running out of food and/or have a limited food selection due to a lack of money, to those skipping meals for a day or more.

Each fall, Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) publishes their Poverty Trends report, using the most recent available data to provide a snapshot of people’s experiences of poverty in Canada. This year’s report demonstrates a persistent, significant gap: the estimated number of people considered to be “in poverty” in Canada does not reflect the number of people actually struggling to afford food.

“The trends are clear,” reads the report: “the story of poverty in Canada is a story of inequity. It is a story of policy choices and outcomes that systemically privilege some and harm others.”
The report cites that over 40 percent of Black children and Indigenous children living off-reserve in the ten provinces lived in a food-insecure household in 2022 (compared to 19.3 percent of white children). Among people with disabilities, 26 percent were estimated to be food insecure in 2022. The estimated food insecurity rate for Nunavut in 2024 was an outrageous 58.1 percent.

Current responses not enough

Understanding the root causes of food insecurity and the impacts it has on people’s lives is critical in developing effective solutions. Poverty Trends emphasizes that, while they are deeply entrenched, these experiences and trends are not inevitable, and proven solutions are within our grasp.

Unfortunately, the report finds that the current patchwork of benefits and services leaves many people without access to food and is largely inadequate, even for those who are eligible.
In 2022, 69.9 percent of households that reported their main source of income as social assistance (including provincial welfare and disability programs) were food-insecure. The report also shares that food insecurity results in higher health care spending. This trend has been shown to be mitigated in basic income pilots when people are provided the stability and predictability of an adequate income.

Federal, provincial and territorial governments have entered into several agreements to address these issues, notably the introduction of legislation to expand the existing social safety net. These include the limited, but critical, beginnings of a pharmacare program and dental benefits, the National School Food Program, National Child Care Agreements and the Canada Disability Benefit.

Despite disproportionately high rates of poverty and food insecurity among people with disabilities, and higher costs of living associated with having a disability, the new Canada Disability Benefit maxes out at 200 dollars per month – well below the stated goal of lifting people with disabilities out of poverty. It is also being administered through a very restrictive, (ironically) inaccessible and costly eligibility process called the Disability Tax Credit.

Even groups with relatively low food insecurity rates, like seniors (at 11.7 percent compared to adults aged 25-64 at 22.9 percent, or youth aged 18-24 at 24.4 percent) are finding that their higher income supports aren’t keeping pace with rising costs of living. These income supports are critical, but inadequate, and need to be paired with other accessible programs, services and infrastructure to create the conditions for an adequate standard of living.

Governments and members of the public have critical roles to play in building a more just and sustainable future for all.

Finding your role

What Poverty Trends tells us – confirmed by the experiences of folks on the frontlines of food insecurity – is that governments and members of the public have critical roles to play in building a more just and sustainable future for all.

Poverty in Canada is a violation of Treaty and Human Rights – specifically, the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the right to food. Governments are responsible for using their tremendous power over policy responses, funding and regulations to meet those Human Rights obligations. But the public must exercise its power, too. Will we let governments continue with the status quo, knowing it condemns millions to go hungry? Or will we call for the investments and regulatory controls required to uphold each person’s dignity and rights?

CPJ’s Poverty Trends report and the work of Parkdale Food Centre encourage every person to find their role in addressing hunger and injustice in our communities and our world at large. To learn more about food insecurity, and access resources to help you engage your community, visit CPJ’s website and download your free copy of Poverty Trends. If you’re in Ottawa, stop in to join your neighbours at Parkdale Food Centre.