Food bank use has more than doubled as evacuees return to Yellowknife

Food bank usage has more than doubled since Yellowknifers came back from the wildfire evacuation, according to the Salvation Army.

"Typically we would look after 50 to 60 families a week in the food bank. Those numbers have been up above 100 a week since we've been back and they're not slowing down," said Tony Brushett, the executive director of the Yellowknife Salvation Army. "So we're finding that people are certainly struggling financially."

He said many are feeling the sting of losing up to four weeks of pay. The number of people using the food bank is still increasing each week, leaving them to wonder when it will peak.

"We're seeing a lot of new faces at the food bank," said Brushett, adding they are accepting donations.

The organizations's thrift store also remains shut down after it was damaged by flooding from broken pipes during last month's evacuation, which is having an impact on food security programs at a difficult time.

"Every month that we're shut down, we're losing about $40,000 in revenue," said Brushett. "And, as I said, that money — 100 per cent of it for the most part — goes toward food security."

He said initial estimates of the time and money it will take to fix the store were overly optimistic, and repairs are going to cost more than $100,000 and take up to three months. 

It comes as a national food security organization says more people than ever are having to rely on food banks.

A new report by Food Banks Canada — which looked at all three territories — says 18 per cent of Canadians are facing uncertainty about where their next meals are coming from.

The N.W.T. got the highest overall mark on poverty measures with a C–, mostly because of the A+ it received for it's social assistance and disability assistance programs. The poverty rate was scored at an F, and food insecurity got the territory a D.

In Nunavut, the situation is particularly acute. Half of the population experiences food insecurity. Nunavut also got an F rating when it came to poverty measures, which include the poverty rate, unemployment rate and food insecurity. It's the only territory to get a failing grade in this category.

The poverty rate and food insecurity rate in Nunavut are both double the next lowest region. In Yukon, when looking at all of the poverty measures, the territory scored a D–. But when looking only at the poverty rate it got an F. It fared better on unemployment with a B, and a D– when it came to food insecurity.