As monthly food bank visits soar to a record 2.35 million, too many are being forced to choose between food and other basic needs 

TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2026 /CNW/ -- Food Banks Canada is calling for long-needed economic security reforms, warning that millions of people in Canada are now facing impossible trade-offs as they struggle to afford basic needs.

Monthly visits to Canada's food banks rose to a devastating 2.35 million in 2026 — increasing nearly 9% over the past year and 117% since 2019 — according to Food Bank Canada's 2026 HungerCount an annual research study encompassing the country's 5,500+ food banks and community organizations.

"HungerCount 2026 is the story of what happens when millions of people are out of options," sums up Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley. "In the past, most people in Canada could absorb a small financial setback — a car repair, a family illness, a modest increase in food prices at the grocery store. Those days are over. Canada's bleak new reality is that millions of people are making impossible trade-offs every day as they choose between food or rent."

Canada's 2026 HungerCount 

• Nearly 1-in-5 food bank clients (18%) are employed, compared to just over 1-in-10 (12.2%) in 2019.  
• One-third (32.5%) of food bank clients are children — representing nearly 776,000 monthly visits in 2026.
• 72% of food bank clients live in market rent housing — and people with the lowest incomes spend on average 60% of their disposable income on housing alone.
• Since 2021, food prices have increased by approximately 30%, housing costs by 28% and transportation costs by nearly 24%.

"This does not have to be Canada's story," urges Beardsley, who encourages bold action on the critical policy recommendations outlined in this year's report. "To truly build a Canada where we take care of each other, the federal government must move swiftly to modernize EI, double the Canada Workers Benefit and invest in critical infrastructure to improve food access and support a more affordable and resilient future."

Food Banks Canada 2026 HungerCount Policy Recommendation Highlights:
Decades of inadequate government action have resulted in an impossible situation where food banks have become part of Canada's social safety net. In its 2026 HungerCount report, Food Banks Canada calls on governments to make focused commitments to support the long-term economic well-being of people in Canada, while simultaneously investing in a resilient food infrastructure.

• Permanently modernize Employment Insurance (EI) for a modern workforce
  • Protect access to EI across life events and for those who exhaust benefits without securing employment.
  • Include non-standard workers through addressing worker misclassification and the creation of a clear contribution-based pathway for self-employed and gig workers.
  • Review eligibility thresholds to better capture part-time, seasonal, and irregular work partners.
• Double the Canada Workers benefit
• • Double the maximum benefit amount for individuals and families.
  • Raise the income eligibility threshold to at least the poverty line.
  • Index both the benefit payment and the eligibility threshold to the rate of inflation.
• Remove barriers to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
• • Create a centralized, dignified, and rights-based disability status determination process outside the tax system.
  • Automatically extend federal disability certification to people already receiving provincial or territorial disability assistance.
  • Use the definition of disability, as defined in the Accessible Canada Act, as the starting point for all federal disability programs.
• Federal Parliamentary review on the adequacy of social assistance
• • The House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology should undertake a joint parliamentary study on provincial, territorial, and on-reserve income support.
• Invest in critical infrastructure to build a more affordable and resilient Canada
• • Establish a National Housing Accord to renew and expand funding for deeply affordable, supportive, co-operative, non-profit, and public housing.
  • Accelerate construction of housing through federal land, financing, and tax measures.
  • Establish explicit geography tracks within Build Canada Homes to address unique realities in urban and suburban, rural, and remote, Northern, and Indigenous communities.
  • Direct up to $500 million of the Food-Link Fund to strategic food bank network infrastructure to support a more resilient, domestic food network.
• Build a Stronger North by investing in people and communities
• • Close the Northern cost-of-living gap in the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit by including a Northern supplement, expanded eligibility thresholds, geographic adjustments, automatic indexing, and accessible delivery systems.
  • Reform Nutrition North Canada by creating clear affordability targets for subsidized food, strengthening public reporting, broadening eligible foods, and expanding food sovereignty initiatives.

2026 HungerCount Across Canada

About Food Banks Canada's 2026 HungerCount
HungerCount is the only national research study of food banks and other food programs in Canada and was initiated by Food Banks Canada in 1989. The information provided by the report provides invaluable insight into the root causes of food insecurity and poverty issues in Canada. #HungerCount2026 #LFG

About Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the leader in addressing food insecurity in Canada. Our mission is to provide national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast to coast to coast. For over 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping people living in Canada with food insecurity. Over 5,500 food banks and community organizations come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours, who — this year — made close to 2.35 million visits to these organizations in one month alone, according to our HungerCount report. Since 2010, Food Banks Canada has shared over $1.2 billion in food supports and over $292 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity — while, backed by leading research, advocating for meaningful actions from governments to counter hunger and its root causes. Our vision is clear: create a Canada where no one goes hungry.

Learn more at foodbankscanada.ca/hungercount

SOURCE Food Banks Canada