The Hill Times: Hunger in Canada is persistent and policy needs to catch up
May 5, 2026
Evidence consistently shows that stronger income supports and accessible benefits can reduce food insecurity.
By Nick Saul, Jasmine Ramze Rezaee
Canada is facing a problem that doesn’t fit the image we often project abroad. Despite our abundance, widespread hunger is persistent in our wealthy nation.
New data from Statistics Canada shows that food insecurity is affecting nearly 10 million Canadians, including 2.4 million children. The burden outlined in the 2025 data is not shared equally: 34.7 per cent of Indigenous Peoples and 41 per cent of Black people are experiencing food insecurity, a glaring reminder of the inequities in our country. Although there was a slight decline in the share of individuals living in food-insecure households from 2024 to 2025, the 2025 figures remain among the highest recorded over the past two decades of tracking. These figures point to a broader issue than rising grocery bills. They reflect the chasm between the rich and the poor as incomes fail to keep up with the cost of living.
Across the country, households are being asked to absorb higher costs for housing, food, and energy without corresponding increases in income. The situation is largely unsustainable. At Right To Food, and our network of more than 450 community-based organizations across the country, we know how folks from all walks of life are feeling the squeeze. People are working, budgeting, and stretching every dollar, but still falling short at the end of the month.
And we know that when money is tight, food is the first thing to go.
It’s often assumed that employment provides a reliable path to stability. But that assumption no longer holds for many. In 89 per cent of working households that are food-insecure, the primary earner works a full-time job. Work, on its own, is no longer a guarantee there is enough food in the fridge.
For those relying on social assistance, disability supports, or other fixed incomes, the situation is even more constrained. Benefit levels frequently fall below what is required to meet basic needs, leaving no room to absorb rising costs, and fuelling the homelessness crisis.
Food insecurity, therefore, is best understood as a measure of income adequacy. It signals whether people have enough resources to meet essential needs. By that measure, current policies are falling miserably short.
The consequences are not limited to individual households. Food insecurity is associated with poorer physical and mental health, increased pressure on the health-care system, and challenges for children’s development. It can also affect labour force participation and productivity. These are outcomes that carry long-term economic implications.
How can we expect a productive, thriving workforce when our workers don’t have enough to eat, and are worried about meeting bills despite working full-time jobs—sometimes even two?
Looking ahead, there are reasons to be concerned about further pressure. Global instability, including conflict in the Middle East, has already contributed to volatility in energy and food prices. These shifts are felt quickly at the household level. And lower-income households have less room to absorb shocks.
Recent analysis from Scotiabank highlights how rising costs for essentials are disproportionately affecting lower-income households. Because these households spend a larger share of their income on basic needs, they are more exposed to price increases.
Against this backdrop, the spring economic update missed the gravity of the moment. The update introduced some affordability measures, like the recent excise gas exemption measure and the introduction of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, but they are unlikely to help lower-income households in meaningful ways.
The fuel-tax holiday is a blunt tool that offers limited, short-term relief while missing many of the households that need support most, including those without cars. It also reduces public coffers at a time when those resources (to the tune of $2.4 billion) are much needed. By contrast, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit is a targeted income security measure which advocates, including our organization, have called for. But in its current form, it is simply too modest to meaningfully support those facing the sharpest cost-of-living pressures today.
We need a more deliberate and co-ordinated approach to tackling hunger in our country. Evidence consistently shows that stronger income supports and accessible benefits can reduce food insecurity. Far from abstract ideas, there are policy tools that have been tested. But they need to be adequate and they need to be part of a broader strategy that prioritizes the wellbeing of millions of Canadians.
Our country has the resources to ensure that basic needs are met. While there are, of course, financial and economic considerations, no one in this country should experience the depth or breadth of hunger, poverty, and homelessness we are seeing today.
The persistence of food insecurity is not a question of capacity, but of policy choices. It has long affected millions. This is not a marginal issue, nor a new one. Reversing it will require a sharper focus on the underlying drivers and a willingness by Prime Minister Mark Carney to act accordingly.
Nick Saul is the CEO of Right To Food, and Jasmine Ramze Rezaee is the director of policy and community action.
