Food bank use in Toronto breaks records — again

The number of visits to food banks in Toronto hit a new record once again, marking a continuation of a drastic rise in food bank use since the pandemic as Torontonians struggle keeping up with the rising cost of living. 

Food banks are seeing a million more visits this year than the last, bringing the total number to 3.49 million from April 2023 to April 2024, according to the annual Who's Hungry report from Daily Bread and North York Harvest food banks.

That's a 38 per cent increase from last year and nearly four times the number of visits than before the pandemic, the report says as it outlines a sobering surge. 

While it took 38 years for food banks to reach one million visits, the report notes, it only took two years to surpass two million visits last year, and only one year to reach three million. 

Food bank use started regularly breaking records in 2021, when food banks saw 1.45 million client visits — the highest number since 2010 when the city was reeling from the 2008 financial crisis. That record was broken again in 2022 (1.68 million visits) and yet again in 2023, when there were more than 2.5 million visits.

The rise is so staggering that the head of Toronto's largest food bank projects their reserves will be so depleted in the next 18 months, they will have to reduce the amount of food they give out.

"You gotta ask the questions around, you know, is this sustainable? Can we continue to do this?" said Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank.

More than 154,700 new people used food banks in Toronto this year. Among users, the cost of living was the main reason for using a food bank, with recent job loss or unemployment being the second most common reason among new clients. 

That includes Safiya Airall, who started using a food bank after losing her job during the layoffs at Corus Entertainment this year. 

"I've never found myself in a position where I would be in need of something like that," she told CBC News. 

The number of new food bank clients this year is a 222 per cent rise from two years ago. Airall said it's "wild" knowing just how many people beside her found themselves needing to step into a food bank. 

"Sometimes it's like you feel like you're suffering in silence and you're the only one," she said. 

The money she spent paying her mortgage and other bills in the past year doesn't leave much for food, she says.

According to the report, 73 per cent of food bank clients spend more than half of their income on housing, with 20 per cent spending all of their income to have a roof over their head.