Food banks in Canada are being pushed to the brink with high demand and donations not keeping pace. Experts say it’s unsustainable.
The last four years have been financially tumultuous for Canadians. A global pandemic and rampant inflation have led to high grocery prices, with more and more people finding themselves unable to afford the basics.
But what happens when donations to help are not keeping up with demand?
“The word that I hear often with food banks across Canada is ‘unsustainable,’” says Kirstin Beardsley, Food Banks Canada CEO.
“When you see the rates of growth that we’ve seen and the strain, the amount of donations that we need to see coming through the door either stagnate or not keep up the pace, this is not a sustainable situation.”
How the cost of living is impacting donations and demand
Beardsley says that although food banks have always worked hard to meet the need, it’s becoming more challenging to get by.
“While folks and Canadians across the country continue to be generous, we are starting to hear that it’s not enough to meet the growing levels of demand that our food banks are facing,” Beardsley says.
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“People’s budgets are stretched. They don’t have the space in their own budgets to make that extra donation because they’re really struggling to make ends meet.”
A 2023 report from Canada Helps found that 57.3 per cent of charities cannot meet current levels of demand and that 31.5 per cent of charities raised less money than the year before.
The report also showed that the number of Canadians relying on charities for basic needs was up eight percentage points in nine months to a total of 22 per cent of all Canadians.
Unlike other social services, food banks are primarily community-funded, with the majority of support coming from donors and collections by community groups and local businesses.
To give people a sense of just how bad it’s gotten, Beardsley compared the impacts of the 2008 recession with the pandemic. During and after the recession, she said food banks on average saw a 30 per cent increase in demand for services. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation, Beardsley says 2023 data shows a roughly 80 per cent increase in demand for services. It’s likely to be higher once the 2024 numbers are collected, she added.
“We haven’t seen this rate of growth since food banks have been collecting data,” she says.
“Food banks tend to deal with economic challenges for a much longer stretch than you see represented in federal data or statistics. So the economy gets better, which is great, but food banks are still dealing with that long tail of need as people get back on their feet and are able to support themselves.”
The recent spring food drive in Barrie, Ont., is one example of the strain on local food banks.
The Barrie Food Bank’s executive director says that although they managed to meet their food collection goal, they were $100,000 short on their financial goal.
“The food donations are obviously very helpful, but the financial donations are also really important because that’s what we use to buy perishable items like meat, milk, margarine, eggs. Those are highly valued items for the clients,” Sharon Palmer says.
Barrie Food Bank launched its spring food drive Friday. The drive continues until March 31.
Handout/Barrie Food Bank
While Palmer feels an early Easter did not help collection efforts, she believes donation fatigue is a factor.
“Donations have reduced to where people are not donating, so that’s affecting the whole industry,” she says. “So we’ve gone through the pandemic, we’ve gone through this period of high inflation that’s affecting this whole social sector and a lot of charities, so there’s been a lot of asks out there in the marketplace, and so people only can do so much.”
Palmer says that over the last few months, demand for their services has reached a peak and is staying around 7,000 people each month. She says that while it’s good to see the numbers stop rising, that is also “an awful lot of people who are needing food support on a monthly basis.”
“It’s a pretty high level of food and financial donations we need to be able to meet that need. To be realistic, we have had to cut back a little on some of the quantities of items just to stay in our budget.”
With the cost of living leading to more people needing their services, Palmer says single people are making up one of the biggest groups they see because they have to pay all their expenses on their own.
“There are still new people coming in for the first time and having to use the food bank. It’s always difficult for people to make that decision, but we’re glad that they do because we know that if we can give them a little help and get them through a tough period, a lot of times, they just get back on their feet,” Palmer says.
“We have this old board member who used to say there’s just too much month at the end of the money when your money runs out.”
Beardsley says with kids’ lunches to build, gas to buy to get to work and rent to pay, it’s hard to afford it all these days.
“It’s impossible to make it all work when the income’s not enough and the expenses are too high.”
To combat the drop in donations, Beardsley and Palmer say food banks are relying more and more on food recovery programs, where they divert food from grocery stores, food suppliers and farmers that will not sell before spoiling.
Palmer says this allows them to quickly deliver perishable products with a short shelf life to those in need.
Despite efforts to keep up with the high demand, experts say more work needs to be done.
2:07 Growing number of British Columbians dealing with food insecurity
Addressing the root cause
When asked if the federal and provincial governments should support food banks more, Palmer said it would help more if they looked at how to prevent people from needing to go in the first place.
“I’d rather have policies that help encourage employment, and that would create more availability of housing,” she says.
Palmer says one area that could help curb demand is providing more financial support for people on government assistance programs.
She says people who rely on government assistance for an injury or disability are receiving far less money than they need to cover their everyday living expenses, with the majority or all going towards rent.
She notes that another key demographic they continue to see more of is people without homes.
“Until we have more housing resources available, I don’t think that segment is going to reduce at all,” Palmer says.
The CEO of Food Banks Canada agrees, encouraging those who aren’t in a position to donate to advocate for change instead.
“Talk to elected officials about the need to invest in making sure that low-income folks have higher incomes, that we are addressing the affordability crisis in Canada, and that governments take action,” Beardsley says.
“Our vision really is — and we believe in it — a Canada where no one goes hungry.”
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
