A new report by University of Toronto (U of T) researchers found that almost six million Canadians experienced food insecurity in 2021.
The Household Food Insecurity in Canada 2021 study, led by U of T nutritional sciences professor Valerie Tarasuk’s research group PROOF, used data from 54,000 households in Statistics Canada’s Canadian Income Survey.
The report found that 5.8 million people, including 1.4 million children, lived in households facing food insecurity. The total number amounts to the equivalent of 15.9% of households across the 10 Canadian provinces.
The percentage of people facing food security varied by province – with Alberta having the highest rate of food insecurity (20.3%) and Quebec having the lowest (13.1%).
The rate of food insecurity for the other provinces is the following: New Brunswick (19.0%), Saskatchewan (18.8%), Newfoundland and Labrador (17.9%), Manitoba (17.8%), Nova Scotia (17.7%), Ontario (16.1%), PEI (15.3%), British Columbia (14.9%).
Data regarding food insecurity in Canada’s territories is not yet available
The report also found that Canadian households facing food insecurity were also reliant on government assistance – 63% of households relied on social assistance, 42% relied on Covid-19 benefits and 39% relied on employment insurance.
The report found that the Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns, which led to massive job losses, had a minor impact on food insecurity. Canada’s current economic challenges, particularly historical inflation rates, are playing a major role.
“The situation now is that inflation and prices are skyrocketing,” said Tarasuk. “People with severe food insecurity will suffer more deprivation, and more often turn to acts of desperation in the face of hunger.”
“That’s the urgent challenge for policymakers.”
While inflation slowed to 7.6% in July, food prices continue to increase at a fast pace. Sky-high inflation has caused the price of food in Canada to rise to almost 10% compared to last year.
According to the Daily Bread Food Bank, a Toronto-based food charity, nearly triple the number of people visited a food bank in June 2022 (171,631) compared to June 2019 (65,000).
In addition to the demand for services, Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington says food banks’ operations are also being impacted because of the increased cost of food.
“We are at a crisis stage and as more people come to food banks across the country, it is more expensive for us to be able to feed that need.”
