Canadians continue to use food banks in record numbers after 2008 recession

When the first food banks opened in the early 1980s they were supposed to be temporary facilities as parts of Canada climbed out of an economic slump.

Some 30 years later, there are more than 450 food banks across the country and the number of needy Canadians who find themselves lining up for free groceries and prepared meals continues to grow.

Food Banks Canada's annual report, released Monday, said the continuing need for food banks needs to be questioned.

The study found 882,000 people used a food bank last March, an increase of 2.4 per cent from 2011 and up 31 per cent since the recession began in 2008.

The number of people using food bank meal programs also jumped by almost one quarter, the study found.

"Over the past four years, the need for food banks has expanded broadly," said the report summary.

"Even those who we might least expect to visit a food bank, including working people, two-parent families, seniors, and homeowners, are experiencing a higher risk of needing help than in the past."

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Children and youth, who make up a fifth of the population, accounted for 38 per cent of food bank users, the report noted.

"It is not easy to answer the question of why, more than three decades since the founding of Canada's first food bank, people continue to need their help — the causes are incredibly diverse," said the report entitled HungerCount.

"While the recession has clearly played a large role in recent years, the fact that more than 700,000 people were helped each month in the years before the recession shows that the problem runs much deeper."

Low income is a key factor, whether it's people in low-paying jobs, inadequate social benefits or small pensions. All face rising costs for food, housing and energy, the report said.

"We were hopeful that we'd start to see things level off, but that's not the case," Katharine Schmidt, Food Banks Canada's executive director, told The Canadian Press.

Manitoba food banks were among the most used in Canada, according to the report, with an increase of more than 50 per cent over the last four years.

Just over five per cent of Manitobans used a food bank this year, the highest of any province and up from 3.3 per cent in 2008.

Women make up more than half of adult food bank clients in the province, while 47.6 per cent of users are under 18.

"Unfortunately, women and children's' poverty will always be linked," David Northcott, executive director of Winnipeg Harvest, in a prepared statement reported by the Winnipeg Sun. "Our goal is to reduce the need for food bank use by half by 2020 in line with the Millennium Development Goals."

CP noted Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and the northern territories all saw declines in food-bank use this year and last.

The HungerCount report recommended an increase in federal investment in affordable housing "so that people are not forced to choose between paying rent or buying food."

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Other recommendations included establishing new programs to address household food insecurity in the northern territories, boosting the Guaranteed Income Supplement "so that no senior falls below the poverty line," and for provincial governments to improve social assistance programs.

Another recommendation calls for Ottawa to enhance the Working Income Tax Benefit, as well as increase investment in education and training for unemployed Canadians not able to draw employment insurance benefits.

"Our current government has done its best to manage through a very difficult period," Schmidt told CP. "But the hunger count shows there is still more to do."