Food Banks Canada welcomes the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit. 

After years of advocacy, Food Banks Canada welcomes today’s announcement from the Prime Minister on the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit along with additional measures to ease food affordability pressures.  

This announcement reflects the collective efforts of Food Banks Canada, the food banking network, our partners and advocates working to address food insecurity. We have consistently urged the government to act on rising affordability challenges and food insecurity through a Groceries and Essentials Benefit to support people now – while longer-term policy solutions take effect. This was the message Food Banks Canada CEO, Kirstin Beardsley, brought directly to the Prime Minister and Cabinet at last week’s Cabinet planning forum.   

Food bank clients continue to struggle to make ends meet and need meaningful supports – both now and into the future. That is why Food Banks Canada is encouraged by the introduction of the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which will support more than 12 million people in Canada. For people relying on food banks, this program will provide direct assistance to low-income households to help cover essential costs such as food, rent, or childcare, as we have called for. 

We cannot build a stronger economy while one-in-four people in Canada experiences food insecurity. Food Banks Canada looks forward to working with the federal government to implement this new benefit and advance other announced measures, including a National Food Security Strategy, to reduce the cost of food and create a Canada where no one goes hungry.