Canadians from coast to coast to coast are continuing to fight back food insecurity as incomes fail to keep pace with rising food prices and advocates say the country is “failing” to meet some people’s human right to food.
Data from Statistics Canada showed that about one in four Canadians lived in a food insecure household last year.
The numbers were released the same month data showed food prices had risen 3.5 percent year-on-year.
“It’s terrible,” said Marissa Alexander, executive director of Food Secure Canada. “The main issue is that people don’t have enough income to support their lifestyle because we don’t get fair wages or decent wages, the cost of housing has gone up, the cost of groceries has gone up.”
Most provinces saw a range of 23 to 28 percent of people living in food insecure households, with only Quebec falling outside that range at 18 percent. In the territories, the numbers ranged from 15 to 16 percent, with the exception of Nunavut which sees 56 percent of residents living in food insecure homes.
In some places like Peterborough, Ont., that means a boost for food banks and other organizations.
“This time of year, we have to really tighten and stretch our dollars because donations drop,” said Ashley Anderson, executive director of Kawartha Lakes Food Source.
“A lot of the conversation is we’re hearing people with full-time jobs, they have kids and gas prices, those are some of the conversations we’ve heard in the waiting room.”
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The food bank has seen more than 1,000 visits each month.
Lakelands Public Health, which includes Peterborough, recently released data showing that 22.3 per cent of households were food insecure from 2022 to 2024. This data included households on the minimum wage, people on Ontario Works assistance or a single person on the Ontario Disability Support Program.
The cost of rent and food alone can leave some people with little or no extra money for other basics. A minimum-wage family of four in a three-bedroom apartment using 71 percent of their income could still be left with $1,432, but the same type of family on Ontario Works could end up $666 in the negative after using about 120 percent of their income.
The numbers are different though depending on where you live. In Windsor, Ont., a family of four on minimum wage can walk away from paying rent and food with $2,644 left over for everything else, but a family on Ontario Works can end up with $545, according to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
Alexander said those numbers may make it seem like the minimum wage family is in a better place financially, but everyone is struggling.
“There used to be some problematic beliefs that it was only certain people who could be food insecure and it was because of their personal failures or challenges,” she said. “We have defended very clearly that this is not the case. It is not an individual failure, it is a systemic failure.”
When people become food insecure, it’s not just about feeding yourself, it’s about staying healthy, said Lauren Kennedy, registered dietitian at Lakelands Public Health.
“We know that as levels of household food insecurity increase, as the severity of household food insecurity increases, so do health care costs,” Kennedy said. “When people are dealing with family insecurity, it’s hard to eat enough, let alone healthy food.”
This can make it even more difficult for people with chronic illnesses to secure healthy food that can help them manage their health problems, while children in food-insecure families are more likely to develop depression or have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Food banks continue to make efforts to help Canadians, but with a report from Food Banks Canada showing nearly 2.2 million visits in a single month by 2025, advocates say governments can do more.
“When it comes to household food insecurity, we want to try to fix that by providing emergency food,” Kennedy said. “At the same time, we must be careful not to forget that we must address the root causes of household food insecurity. It is an income problem that requires income solutions.”
A number of options could help address the issue, Alexander said, whether it’s other benefits like the recent food and essentials benefit introduced earlier this spring, ensuring the Canada Child Benefit puts money directly “into the hands of those who need it,” or policy changes such as having a basic income “of some form.”
“What we’re noticing is that we know food is a human right, and right now in Canada, we’re failing to fulfill that human right,” she said.
–with files from Madeleine McColl of Global News
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
