Canada’s 2025 HungerCount shows the cost of inaction
Silent, growing crisis is normalizing hunger and stripping Canada of its human potential
Food Banks Canada 2025 HungerCount reports close to 2.2 million monthly visits, 1 in 5 people who rely on food banks have jobs
Poverty and hunger are “normalizing” in Canada – and without bold legislative action – volunteers and donations alone cannot keep pace with the relentless soaring need, concludes a new Food Banks Canada report.
Monthly visits to Canada’s food banks have doubled since 2019 – hitting close to 2.2 million visits in March 2025 alone, according to Food Banks Canada’s 2025 HungerCount – the only research study encompassing the country’s 5,500 food banks and community organizations.
Canada’s 2025 HungerCount
| Number of visits in March 2025 | 2.166 million |
| Percentage change from 2024 | 5% |
| Percentage change from 2019 | 99.4% |
- Nearly 1-in-5 food bank clients (19.4%) are employed, compared to just over 1-in-10 (12.2%) in 2019.
- One-third (33%) of food bank clients are children – representing nearly 712,000 monthly visits in 2025, up by over 300,000 monthly visits compared to 2019.
- Nearly 1-in-4 households (23.1%) who rely on food banks are two parent families, compared to 18.8% in 2019.
- 70% of food bank clients live in market rent housing
- 8.3% of food bank clients in Canada are seniors – up from 6.8% in 2019.
Turning Canada’s HungerCount around
“Canada’s HungerCount is relentlessly growing in the wrong direction,” warns Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley, who is intensifying the call for focused poverty-reduction strategies and urgent action to address low income workers, food insecure children, housing affordability and social supports.
Food Banks Canada’s policy recommendations:
Commit to reducing food insecurity in Canada in half by 2030 by:
- Tackling the root causes of poverty:
o Modernizing the EI system, by expanding support for precarious, gig and self-employed workers
o Repair Canada’s outdated social safety net, including enhancing the Canada Disability Benefit - Making life more affordable:
o Invest in housing supply and demand, that includes rental assistance
o Introduce a Groceries and Essentials Benefit targeted at Canadians who have low incomes - Addressing Northern food insecurity:
o Redesign Nutrition North in partnership with Indigenous communities
o Transform existing tax deductions to provide more financial relief for those in the North who live with a higher cost of living
“We can make new choices. We can turn Canada’s HungerCount around. It starts by feeding greatness and valuing human potential,” urges Beardsley. “We cannot build a strong Canada when our neighbours are hungry. If we prioritize resources and invest in the policies that matter most, we can build a Canada where everyone has access to the food they need to thrive. Let’s work for a 2026 HungerCount that trends downwards. Let’s commit to reducing food insecurity in half by 2030. Let’s feed greatness. LFG.”
Regional HungerCount:
| Region | 2025 Monthly Visits | % Change 2024 – 2025 | % Change 2019 – 2025 | 2025 Monthly Visits Children |
| BC | 223,340 | -1% | +79.1% | 68,053 |
| AB | 210,541 | +21.8% | +134.4% | 75,968 |
| SK | 55,310 | +4.6% | +48.6% | 20,906 |
| MB* | 64,975 | +17.1% | — | 25,047 |
| ON** | 763,756 | +3.7% | +124.9% | 228,689 |
| QC*** | 746,411 | +3.5% | +116.2% | 260,419 |
| NB | 32,343 | +0.5% | +45.3% | 10,781 |
| NS | 43,421 | +10.3% | +69.4% | 14,023 |
| PEI | 5,350 | -1.6% | +80.8% | 1,757 |
| NL | 15,422 | +8.3% | +44.1% | 4,700 |
| TERR**** | 4,897 | +22.9% | — | 1,428 |
*Comparison to 2019 not available due to change in provincial network structure and change in data collection methods. Compared to 2021, Manitoba saw a 97% increase.
** see Daily Bread Food Bank’s Who’s Hungry 2025 Report for detailed Toronto data
*** see Banques alimentaires du Quebec Bilan Faim 2025 Report for detailed Quebec data
****Comparison to prior years not possible for all territories, except Yukon, due to changes in data estimation method. Yukon saw a 3.5% increase compared to last year, and a 79.9% increase compared to 2019.
About Food Banks Canada’s 2025 HungerCount
HungerCount is the only national research study of food banks and other food programs in Canada – and was initiated by Food Banks Canada in 1989. The information provided by the report provides invaluable insight into the root causes of food insecurity and poverty issues in Canada. #HungerCount2025 #LFG
About Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the leader in addressing food insecurity in Canada. Our mission is to provide national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast to coast to coast. For over 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping people living in Canada with food insecurity. Over 5,500 food banks and community organizations come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours, who—this year—made close to 2.2 million visits to these organizations in one month alone, according to our HungerCount report. Since 2010, Food Banks Canada has shared over $1 billion in food supports and over $275 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity—while, backed by leading research, advocating for meaningful actions from governments to counter hunger and its root causes. Our vision is clear: create a Canada where no one goes hungry.
