The Ottawa Food Bank is being forced to scale back some of their operations.
Come January, the bank will reduce some of their services in attempts to adapt to increased demand and decreased donations.
“The reality is we cannot keep up pace,” said Rachael Wilson, CEO of the Ottawa Food Bank, in an interview with rabble.ca. “There just isn’t enough food.”
The bank’s decision to scale back is one that many food banks in Ontario are also being forced to make, according to a new report by Feed Ontario, which represents a network of over 1,200 food banks in the province. The report found that almost 40 per cent of food banks surveyed have had to reduce the amount of food they supplied per visit to adapt to increased demand.
The report looked at data from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. It recorded that over one million people used food bank services in Ontario between 2023 to 2024, representing a 25 per cent increase from the year before.
There were approximately 500,000 visits to the Ottawa Food Bank last year. This marks a 90 per cent increase since 2019.
Carolyn Stewart, CEO of Feed Ontario, said that food banks’ decisions to scale back is unprecedented – and cause for alarm.
“We’ve never seen this,” said Stewart in an interview with rabble.ca. “I’ve been with the organization for 15 years and I’ve never seen food bank use and demand as high as it is today. We’ve never seen food banks have to take such drastic measures.”
“We’re an emergency mechanism, not a full time response or an alternative to a social safety net,” she continued. “With the government not doing their part and improving social policy, this is what we’re seeing on the ground.”
Cost of living forcing more people to rely on food banks
Ricardo Tranjan, a senior researcher on housing and social policy with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, said one of the reasons behind increased food bank usage is the cost of rent.
“We see a trend towards rent requiring a large part of tenants’ household income,” Tranjan said in an interview with rabble.ca. “So, the obvious conclusion is that when you see more and more of low wage workers’ income going towards rent, we know that there is little left for other things.”
The average cost of rent in Canada was $2,152 in October, down 1.2 per cent from last year, according to a national rent report released by Rentals.ca and real estate data firm Urbanation. This marks the first decline since July 2021.
But Tranjan explained that minimum wage and social assistance rates have not kept up with the cost of living. Coupled with rental prices, inflation, and rising food prices, more Canadians are being forced to rely on food banks.
“The minimum wage right now in many provinces doesn’t quite deliver the kind of increases that we would need to keep up with the cost of living,” he explained. “And when you look at social assistance rates, you know, Ontario Works, the rates have been frozen for quite some time now.”
Currently, the financial assistance provided through Ontario Works for a single person is $733 a month.
But Tranjan said the solution to rent prices isn’t simply a matter of building more houses.
“The narrative that all we need is more supply of housing and that will bring prices down helps to justify the never ending and increasing support to private developers,” he said.
Tranjan pointed to the 2024 federal budget, which included $15-billion in subsidies and support to private developers through the Apartment Construction Loan Program, which the government says is aimed at stimulating the construction of affordable homes.
Tranjan said governments should be supporting more non-market housing providers, instead. He also highlighted the need for stronger rent control policies.
“We only have five provinces that have permanent rent controls and they’re full of loopholes,” he said. “And then you have the other four that have no rent control whatsoever.”
The only provinces with permanent rent control policies are Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia instituted a temporary rent control policy in November, 2020, which is set to expire at the end of 2025.
“Provincial governments have the ability to make a very significant impact, literally overnight, by strengthening rent controls,” said Tranjan.
What this means for food banks on the front lines
Ninety eight per cent of the Ottawa Food Bank’s funding comes from community donations. Recently, the bank has been forced to get by on fewer donations.
“We know it’s because our donors are facing the same economic challenges that many of the people who are accessing banks are,” Wilson said. “The cost of food is astronomical. The cost of rent and living in a city like Ottawa is very high. So, unfortunately, that does mean that donors are not able to give as much or as often as they have in the past.”
Stewart said this is something many banks are dealing with – and that there is a sore need for more funding.
“Our preference is always that the money goes into the pockets of people who are needing a food bank,” she said. “But until the government does that, they have to support food banks.”
Feed Ontario is predicting a 24 per cent increase in food bank visits over the coming year. Wilson said she’s concerned about how The Ottawa Food Bank will continue to meet the needs of their community if demand continues to increase.
“We are seeing people who are at their wits end who are struggling and very stressed about where their next meal will come from, and it’s only going to get worse every single month,” she said.
Almost 24 per cent of people who accessed food banks in 2023 to 2024 were employed, according to Feed Ontario. Stewart emphasised that people who rely on food banks are not just those who are unhoused.
“It could be anyone,” she said. “They’re people sitting beside you on the bus. They’re potentially your colleagues. They’re children in the classroom. They can be anyone. Anyone can fall on hard times very easily.”
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
