As 2024 looms, GTA food banks worry demand will continue growing

Food banks in the Greater Toronto Area are looking to 2024 with concern after the high-cost of living and food inflation led reliance on food banks to skyrocket in 2022 and 2023. 

Both Food Banks Mississauga and Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank released their annual reports this week, reporting double digit per cent growth in the number of visits to member food banks throughout 2022 and 2023. 

Meghan Nicholls, CEO of Food Banks Mississauga, said without government action, the number of those needing food banks will rise. She said this year was unprecedented, with the non-profit seeing the highest increase in its 37-year history. 

"If our fundraising doesn't grow at the same rate as the demand for service, we will have to start looking in 2024 at: Are there caps to service? Are there new programs we can't launch? Are there things we have to hold back on?" said Nicholls. 

For Food Banks Mississauga, from June 2022 to May 2023, they saw food bank use that was 82 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels. According to Nicholls, about five per cent of the city's population now use a food bank. In Toronto, Daily Bread Food Bank reported a 63 per cent year-over-year increase in use between July 2022 and June 2023.

Leadership of both major food banks say without government support to reduce poverty in the community, food banks will continue to see massive amounts of use. 

'Numbers just keep rising and rising'

Talia Bronstein, vice president of research and advocacy at the Daily Bread Food Bank, said one bright spot of the past year has been the way staff, volunteers and donors have stepped up to meet the growing challenge. 

But the rising cost of living isn't just impacting the number of people who visit the food bank, it also means less people can afford to donate to the food bank. 

The combination of rising demand and food inflation has caused Daily Bread's spending to balloon, Bronstein said. The food bank used to spend $1.5 million annually on food, now it's $22 million. 

"We want to make sure every single person walks away with food," she said. "But how do you maintain that when numbers just keep rising and rising and rising?"

Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest, a national organization that redirects surplus food from businesses to non-profit organizations like Daily Bread and Food Banks Mississauga, is also worried about the year ahead. 

She said they support more than 500 organizations in Toronto but have a waiting list of about 60 others, the non-profits they support include things beyond food banks like community centres and addiction services centres. 

In Mississauga, Nicholls said they've seen a shift in people coming to their food banks. 

"We're starting to have people say to us, I used to donate, I used to send cans with my kids to the food drive at school and now I'm here needing the food bank," Nicholls said. 

When it comes to the outlook for 2024, Nicholls was blunt. 

"Unless there is major government intervention, we will continue to see these numbers rise."

New federal benefit could help ease demand

Bronstein echoed her concern about the coming year. 

"I wish I had a bit more optimism for 2024," she said. 

Both Nicholls and Bronstein say the most promising government program on the horizon is the Canadian Disability Benefit, which is part of a bill that passed in Parliament in June. Though the benefit, which will provide federal money to low income, working-age people with disabilities, isn't accessible yet. 

The benefit would top up incomes so that they reach a set level. The government has a year from the bill's passing to establish what this level is. 

A spokesperson for the federal Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities said the benefit is still in the consultation phase. The public will eventually be able to provide input on the draft regulations, they said. 

"Our top priority is to move forward as fast as we can with regulatory development," said Laurent de Casanove, the minister's press secretary. A direct answer to when the benefit might be accessible was not provided.

Bronstein said close to half of Daily Bread's clients have a disability. If the federal government can step up income support for that population, she said there could be a "really significant" drop in food bank use, which is Daily Bread's ultimate goal. 

More generally, she wants to see better income supports for child and seniors benefits, which have a demonstrated impact on food security. She also wants to see more development of affordable housing. 

Nicholls said about a quarter of the people they serve in Mississauga receive the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), which she said isn't sufficient despite it being increased in line with inflation. 

A spokesperson for the province's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, said the government increased the ODSP earnings exemption by 400 per cent and spent an extra $6.1 million on the Student Nutrition Program and First Nations Student Nutrition Program this year.

Nikkel said in a perfect world, organizations like hers should become obsolete. 

"If you're a CEO of a charity, your job should be to go out of business — solve the problem," she said. "I'm not going out of business for a while."