Every year, Food Banks Canada surveys the food bank network to provide a unique and valuable lens on food insecurity in this country. Our research contradicts the persistent false assumption that newcomers, or newly arrived refugees in particular, receive a disproportionate amount of government benefits.
In fact, our findings suggest the opposite: that governments do not support newcomers adequately.
By analyzing who’s using food banks and why, Food Banks Canada’s annual HungerCount report lets us see actionable trends and make informed policy recommendations. As part of the latest HungerCount, our researchers examined the income sources of people who’ve visited food banks.
Many people in Canada — whether they’ve ever accessed a food bank or not — receive income from government benefits such as provincial social assistance, disability support, employment insurance, Old Age Security or the Canada Child Benefit.
But in their first few years, many newcomers are ineligible for and/or unaware of these programs. Our analysis of our intake database showed that among people who’ve used food banks, recent newcomers (in Canada for two years or less) are more likely to be earning employment income or not getting any income, compared to people who were born in Canada or who’ve been living here for longer than 10 years. Visitors to food banks in the latter group were more likely to have federal and/or provincial benefits as an income source.
The Employment-Insurance Gap
Compared to the general population in Canada, newcomers are more likely to be currently unemployed or working in lower-paid, insecure jobs. Those who have temporary work permits are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers. Those who are skilled workers or professionals can face far more complex environments than their counterparts born in Canada, and can require more time and effort to secure employment in their fields. Despite this, and even though many are required to pay taxes, newcomers are the least able to access employment insurance benefits.
“One of our main factors [in increased usage] was the plight of temporary foreign workers who were laid off with no support.”
– Food banker and HungerCount survey respondent, PEI
In March 2024, when Food Banks Canada was collecting data for the latest HungerCount report, Statistics Canada recorded a modest increase in unemployment in the general population and a spike among recent newcomers.[1] Unsurprisingly, this coincided with an uptick in their visits to food banks.
It also coincided with growth in the gap between the number of people who are unemployed and the proportion of them who are receiving employment insurance. According to Statistics Canada data, only 34% of unemployed people are accessing EI, the lowest recorded level in Canadian history.[2]
Chart: Unemployed vs. receiving EI, percentage change since December 2022
Taken together, these findings suggest that recent arrivals have not been accessing government benefits, even when they need them because of a layoff, difficulty finding work, or employment with insufficient income.
Policy Solutions
Shocks in the labour market can affect anyone, but people who’ve recently arrived are especially vulnerable. To ease these challenges and diminish the role that they play in food insecurity, Food Banks Canada is advocating for:
- Incentivizing businesses to pay living wages to all employees
- Overhauling employment insurance to better reflect the nature of modern jobs and situations such as self-employment and “gig work”
- Develop a plan to phase out employer-specific temporary work permits by the end of 2028
- Easing the regulations that apply to professional licensing that prevent immigrants with training in fields like engineering and healthcare from working in similar roles in Canada
- Increasing funding for language training and post-landing services for immigrants
Close to 80% of the immigrants who are accessing food banks have been in Canada for only 0 to 2 years. Therefore, extending better support to families when they first arrive could significantly alleviate the unsustainable demands facing food banks, reduce the number of people experiencing hunger in this country, and help our new neighbours reach the full potential of their lives in Canada.
For more details on these solutions and others, please consult our policy recommendations.
[1] Statistics Canada. (2024, September 06). Table 14-10-0082-01 Labour force characteristics by immigrant status, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410008201.
[2] Yalnizyan, A. (2024, August 09). Opinion: Out of work? You may be out of luck. Why getting EI is harder than it’s ever been. Toronto Star.
https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/out-of-work-you-may-be-out-of-luck-why-getting-ei-is-harder-than/article_51bbb61a-510d-11ef-ab64-d3cca38e6d9a.html
Sources of data for the chart: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0011-01 Employment insurance beneficiaries (regular benefits) by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410001101, and Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months.
Chart based on Lundy, M. (2024, July 29). Why unemployment is rising, but jobless benefits aren’t keeping pace. Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-why-unemployment-is-rising-but-jobless-benefits-arent-keeping-pace/
