‘Barely holding on’: More than 1M Ontarians visited a food bank in last year

Ontarians continue to be using food banks at a record-breaking rate, with a new report warning the number of users grew for the ninth straight year as some families are “barely holding on.”

“What we’re seeing is really a greater depth of need in with the affordability crisis,” said Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario which released the report. “It’s really pushing more families from really that just getting-by area to barely holding on.”

The Hunger Report, released Monday, showed more than a million Ontarians needed a food bank in the last year and made an estimated 8.7 million visits during that time, a one per cent and 13 per cent increase from the previous year respectively.

The report notes it reflects visitors to food banks between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

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It also noted that of those who visited a food bank, 29 per cent were children under the age of 18 and 23 per cent were employed but said they still didn’t earn enough to avoid a visit. Those numbers were a 2.9 per cent and 3.4 per cent increase compared to last year respectively.

“I think that should be also a growing concern and really a signal for many people that employment is no longer also a protection against food insecurity,” Stewart said.

There was at least one group that saw a decrease compared to last year: first-time visitors, with 34 per cent of visitors being new to food bank use, down 20 per cent.

But according to the report, it can’t necessarily be taken as good news.

“This indicates that although there are fewer new people and families turning to food banks for help, those who already need this support are relying on food bank services for longer periods of time and their circumstances are likely worsening,” the report notes.

Food banks at risk

While there’s concern about the number of Ontarians using food banks, the report also raises issues surrounding how long many of these community programs can last as use continues to rise.

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A total of 140 food banks across the province were surveyed for the report and of that number, two in three said they’re concerned about sustaining their operations over the next six months.

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Half say they’re worried they won’t have enough food to meet the need in their community, while one in three say they will have to pause, reduce or even end services because the demand faced has surpassed what is available.

6:37 Here’s how you can help as food bank visits soar to record highs

At the Parkdale Community Food Bank in Toronto, that demand hit its peak in October, when it served 17,000 people. By comparison, the food bank only saw 1,500 monthly in 2020. That jumped to 8,000 in 2023 as COVID-19 supports began to end.

“We thought that was the most we would see, we were pretty overwhelmed and shocked when we saw 8,000,” said Kitty Raman Costa, executive director of the food bank.

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“This October we served 17,000 people at the Parkdale Community Food Bank and so October of 2025 is the most we’ve served ever. We’ve been averaging between 14,500 and 15,000 over the course of 2025.”

The drastic increase has become a “big challenge” for the food bank, with Raman Costa telling Global News they’ve expanded their hours significantly to give the added number of people more time to use the services.

She said adding hours is expensive, but added that the food bank is 100-per cent funded by community donations and sponsorships, creating added strain as they purchase a “significant amount” of food that it distributes.

Action needed now

With numbers reaching record highs once more, Feed Ontario said it wants to see further action by governments of all levels to address the issue, including calling on the provincial government to ensure its next poverty reduction strategy must focus on lowering people’s reliance on the food banks.

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The agency also urges the province to initiate a review of where Ontario’s efforts to reduce poverty may align or conflict with federal and municipal programs.

“We need to reduce the demand,” Stewart said. “Our province is facing a crisis and we need all levels of government to really prioritize poverty reduction and affordability in the province.”

Raman Costa says policy changes are needed, including more affordable housing so people’s money is not solely going towards their home and can be spent elsewhere.

But she said while funding needs to go towards issues like food insecurity, it would be “incredibly helpful” if stopgap support was provided to food banks.

“It’s very scary to think that food banks could become a permanent fixture in Canada,” Raman Costa said.

“Ideally, it would be something that people are no longer relying on in the future, but first we need to address affordability, which, it’s really gotten out of hand.”

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