Canadian food bank visits doubled since 2019, with 161% more newcomers

As the cost of essentials such as shelter and food has increased in Canada, so have the number of employed people, children, two-parent households, recent immigrants and seniors who turn to food banks. In March alone, food banks recorded an unprecedented 2.2 million visits, according to Food Banks Canada’s 2025 HungerCount .

Food bank usage has doubled since 2019 and is 5.2 per cent higher than it was last year. “It took decades to reach one million visits in a month, and it has now taken half a decade to double that,” Food Banks Canada notes.

According to the report, which encompasses the country’s 5,500 food banks and community organizations, poverty and hunger are “normalizing” in Canada.

Food banks increasingly serve as lifelines and are seeing growth across the board, but the n