Economic hardship pushes up Canada's food bank use in 2015: study

Food bank use in Canada has increased for a second consecutive year, and continues to hover at record levels, revealed a national research report released by Food Banks Canada Tuesday.

The HungerCount 2015 report, which coordinated the national study involving more than 4,000 food programs, showed that 852,137 people, including 305,366 children, have accessed a food bank in March this year.

The report said food bank use this year is 1.3 percent higher than in 2014, and 26 percent higher than in 2008 when the global financial meltdown started. It means that 175,000 more people each month are seeking assistance compared to 2008.

In the short-term, people turn to food banks for diverse reasons, such as layoffs, a sudden illness, a rent increase that eats into a family's food budget, said Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director of Food Banks Canada.

"The underlying issue that has kept food bank use so high for so long is the fact that millions of Canadians are trying to make ends meet with incomes that fall far below what is needed to afford the basic cost of living," she said.

The report makes policy recommendations that will increase people's capacity to succeed in the labour market, and that will increase supports for people who are unable to work.

The recommendations include investment in affordable housing; helping Canadians get the skills they need for the well-paying jobs; increasing northern Canadians'access to traditional and store-bought foods.

Newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made several campain promises that closely moniter the plicy recommendations in HungerCount 2015, Schmidt said.

"We are excited at the prospect of moving forward in a positive and constructive way with the new federal government to significantly reduce the need for food banks in Canada," she added. Endit