Northeastern Ontario food banks, health units call for government action to address rising food insecurity

Rates of food insecurity continue to rise in communities across Ontario, including in northeastern Ontario, according to a number of organizations and agencies in the region.

Health units, social services agencies and food banks say food insecurity is directly tied to low income and they are calling on the Ontario government to address the issue and set targets to reduce it.

In a new report, Algoma Public Health said 17.6 per cent of local households were food insecure between 2021 and 2023 and it found social assistance rates and minimum wage are not enough to cover costs of living.

The report highlighted that households receiving social assistance such as Ontario Works (OW) or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) struggle more with food insecurity, according to Lisa O'Brien, a health promotion specialist with Algoma Public Health.

"They're spending a lot. A very high percentage of their income would go to food as well as things like rent, leaving very, very little, if any money left over for other basic necessities," said O'Brien.

O'Brien added those receiving social assistance spend between 41 per cent to 80 per cent of their total monthly income on rent alone.

At its board meeting on May 28, Algoma Public Health passed a resolution based on the latest report, and is asking the recently re-elected Progressive Conservative government under Doug Ford to recognize and acknowledge food insecurity as an income-based problem that requires income-based solutions.

O'Brien said evidence shows that income-based policies and programs, such as adequate social assistance rates, living wages, basic income, and affordable housing are effective solutions to reduce food insecurity.

"We really need to focus on the upstream approaches like income based solutions that really prevent people from falling into the water in the first place," said O'Brien.

The resolution is being welcomed by local food banks, who said they are seeing an increasing number of people accessing their services, particularly by those on social assistance.

"To this point this year, 40 per cent of our clients have been on ODSP and another 28 per cent rely on OW," said Sara McCleary, marketing manager at St. Vincent Place food bank in Sault Ste. Marie.

"So that's a pretty good indicator that those rates are not high enough that those people, those families who are relying on social assistance, they're not getting enough to live off of."

McCleary said client numbers are going up quickly, with more than 400 people accessing the food bank in the month of May. She added they have not had such a high number in a long time.

It's a similar situation being seen by Harvest Algoma. The food rescue organization supplies food banks in the Algoma region, and director David Thompson says he isn't surprised the numbers are going up.