OVERALL FINDINGS

In March 2023, there were almost 2 million visits to food banks across Canada, representing a 32 per cent increase compared to March 2022, and a 78.5 per cent increase compared to March 2019, which is the highest year-over-year increase in usage ever reported.

THE DATA

Canada
ALL
Total Visits 1,935,911
Total Visits (Child) 642,257
% Change in Total Visits 2022-2023 32
% Change in Total Visits 2019-2023 79
Total Meals and Snacks 3,820,925
Food Banks Reporting 2,388
Canada Click to see provincial data NL BC NS QC ON YT NT NU PEI NB MB SK AB

33
%
ARE CHILDREN
33% of food bank users are children while representing only 20 % of the population
43.8
%
ARE SINGLE ADULT HOUSEHOLDS
Single adult households represent 43.8% of households accessing food banks, while representing only 29.3% of the population
42.4
%
ARE ON SOCIAL ASSISTANCE OR DISABILITY-RELATED SUPPORTS
Those receiving provincial social assistance as their main source of income represent 42.4% of households accessing food banks

HOUSEHOLD INCOME SOURCES OF THOSE ACCESSING FOOD BANKS

1 in 6 are currently employed

13.6%

receive provincial disability support

8.0%

8.0% of food bank clients are seniors, a significant increase from 6.8% in 2019
1 in 10 receive pension income

17.3%

The percentage of single adults with children using food banks is 17.3% while representing only 8.7% of the population

3,820,925

is the total number of meals and snacks served in March 2023 (does not include hamper programs)

OUR MANDATE

Food Banks Canada provides national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network in Canada. We do this by maximizing the collective impact of the network, strengthening the local capacity of food banks, and advocating to reduce the need for food banks.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

OUR METHODOLOGY

The annual HungerCount is Food Banks Canada’s signature report documenting food bank use in Canada. It is a cross-sectional census survey of most food bank agencies, organizations, and programs, within and outside of the Food Banks Canada network. The HungerCount provides a point in time snapshot of food bank use in Canada.

Food Banks Canada is always looking for ways to improve the HungerCount report. If you have questions about the report, or ideas on how we could improve it, we would like to hear from you. Please get in touch at info@foodbankscanada.ca and put HungerCount in the subject line of your message.

To learn more about our data collection and analysis processes for HungerCount 2023, click here to download the full PDF report.

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