Ontario food bank usage on the rise, even before pandemic pressure: report

Food bank usage across Ontario was already increasing in the year leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, says a new report. Then came a further surge in demand as people grappled with unemployment, closures, and loss of income throughout the pandemic. 

Feed Ontario's annual hunger report released on Monday analyzes food bank usage across the province, makes recommendations, and also looks at the impact of the pandemic on food banks and vulnerable populations. 

Following a year where people made 3.2 million visits to food banks, the number of first-time food bank visitors spiked by 26.5 per cent during the first four months of the pandemic, the report says. 

"That means that we're seeing brand new people who have never come to our services, and those who have already accessed our services experiencing further difficulties in life than they've already had to deal with," said executive director Carolyn Stewart. "It's extremely concerning for us."

Before the pandemic

Between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020, the report said 537,575 people accessed food banks — an increase of 5.3 per cent over the previous year — and that one third of those visitors were children. 

Total visits amounted to 3,282,500, which is up 7.3 per cent from last year.

Feed Ontario lists a lack of affordable housing, insufficient social assistance programs, and a growth in precarious employment (like part-time and casual work) as the top three drivers of food bank usage.

Ontario also has the highest number of minimum wage workers in the country, Stewart added, noting precarious work has been greatly impacted by the pandemic. 

The report says 65.7 per cent of food bank visitors cite social assistance as their primary source of income. There has also been 44 per cent more employed people accessing food banks over the past four years. 

"As these numbers continue to grow, it really creates concerns for us that the income is not keeping up with what everyone needs to afford their most basic cost of living," Stewart said. 

"Things are becoming increasingly out of reach for everyone."

Paying for housing means no financial cushion

Prior to the pandemic, people were already living with the extreme stress that comes with living in poverty, stretching dollars and potentially being unable to make ends meet, Stewart said.

Around 86 per cent of food bank visitors are rental or social housing tenants spend most of their monthly income on housing. Feed Ontario notes this makes it near impossible for low-income people to have savings or a "financial cushion" to offset losses during times of emergency.

Coupled with a year that prompted further anxiety and called for additional expenses — like PPE, staying home for health reasons, and the loss of social services — "hundreds of thousands of people" were without the means to afford basic needs. 

The top three reasons people would skip meals was to help afford rent, utilities, and phone or Internet bills, the report says.

"I think it's extremely problematic. No one should have to make those choices. Those are impossible choices for anyone to have to make," said Stewart. 

Surge in demand

During the first two months, access to food and meal support also became the number one reason people called Ontario 211 — the community and social services help line.

Stewart said this might have been out of fear these essential services would be closed. 

But food banks have been working around the clock, she said, with limited resources and staff to meet pandemic guidelines. None have shut down. 

They've implemented new emergency food support programs, and upped the amount of food provided to reduce number of visits. Some also put in a home delivery service and opened a drive-thru service. 

Here's a look at how demand increased at different centres across the province once the pandemic hit:

• The Daily Bread Food Bank in the GTA serviced nearly 20,000 people a week.
• The Mississauga Food Bank saw a 120 per cent increase in first time users.
• Ottawa Food Bank had 400 per cent more calls from people needing food support. 
• The Unemployed Help Centre in Windsor had double the amount of households access their services.
• The Salvation Army in Owen Sound saw over 400 people in the first nine days of the pandemic, which is near the number of people it would service in a month.
• Community Care West Niagara in Lincoln had a 20 per cent increase in those using their services.
• A Sudbury Food Bank agency saw a 150 per cent jump in people accessing emergency food support.

Eviction, financial challenges

In September alone, there was 10 per cent more visits to food banks compared to the same time last year. 

When Feed Ontario surveyed around 200 food bank visitors in September, it found one out of two food bank visitors said they were worried about facing eviction or defaulting on their mortgage in the next two to six months.

One participant said, "Everything is hard. Paying rent is hard, going to the doctor is hard, accessing groceries and food are hard. Everything is so much harder now."

Over 90 per cent were also navigating extreme financial challenges due to the pandemic and incurring a significant amount of debt. Ninety-three per cent of respondent were borrowing money from friends and family, accessing payday loans, or using a credit card to help pay bills. 

Though Feed Ontario doesn't collect data related to race, immigration or refugee status, it notes that Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by poverty and food insecurity, and are three times more likely to be food insecure than non-racialized households. 

Support from provincial and federal governments helped food banks meet an initial surge at the start of the pandemic, said Stewart. But as these supports wound down through summer and into fall, the numbers have increased again. 

The supports showed that "investing in income supports for individuals can provide that essential safety net that people need," she said. 

Stewart pointed to the 2008 recession where food bank usage went up by almost 30 per cent over two years. 

"It's never gone back down," she said, adding that the network is "quite fearful" that without those supports food bank use will grow "exponentially" over the coming months.

"While food banks do their very best with very little to meet the need in their communities, and they do incredible work, they do not replace good, public policy," she said. "We are not a solution to poverty." 

Feed Ontario says it's calling on the provincial government to: 

• Provide immediate support to low-income families, including developing a rent relief or payment program for tenants facing rent arrears or eviction.
• Reinstate the emergency benefit for social assistance recipients.
• Align Ontario's social assistance rates with the national standard set by CERB.
• Develop stronger labour laws and policies, like reinstating paid sick days and quality jobs with a livable wage.