Nearly 40 Percent of Ontario Food Banks Rationing Supplies Amid ‘Unprecedented’ Demand: Report

Nearly 40 percent of Ontario food banks say they have been “forced to reduce the amount of food they provide” for users following a second year of “unprecedented” surge in demand, according to a new report.
“As one of the ‘last resort’ supports available before someone becomes homeless, we cannot let food banks fall apart.”
Feed Ontario, which represents a network of more than 1,200 food banks and hunger relief organizations in the province, said over one million people, or one in 16 Ontarians, used a food bank in 2023. While the number of unique individuals accessing food banks in the last two years has increased by 73 percent, the organization projects the demand will rise by an additional 24 percent in 2025.
There was an 8 percent increase in unique individuals using Ontario food banks and a 32 percent rise in overall visits to Ontario food banks during the pandemic between 2019 and 2021, the group said. But from 2022 to 2023, the number of unique individuals spiked by 73 percent and the number of visits rose by 78 percent.
Feed Ontario warned of a “growing gap between the demand for support and the resources available to food banks” in recent years, with Ontarians being unable to donate as much to food banks.
“There are few other options to replenish the ‘fund,’ as food banks cannot raise taxes like governments or raise prices like businesses,” the report said, adding that “no one could have anticipated the sharp increase that is currently being seen.”