The Calgary Food Bank says more people are relying on its services than at any time in its history, with a significant spike in demand in the past year.
“We are feeding more people today at the Calgary Food Bank than we ever have before,” president and CEO Melissa From told CBC News on Monday.
In its last fiscal year, from Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024, the agency logged 485,900 total annual visits. That number is up by more than 100,000 compared to the year prior — a notable 28 per cent increase from 2023’s total visits.
From called this level of food support “unprecedented,” adding there is no longer a typical type of client who uses the food bank.
“Gone are the days when we had an average profile of who a food bank user would be,” she said.
“I think there was a time when it was maybe someone who just fell on hard luck and lost their job, or maybe had a health diagnosis.… There were a few common categories like that, and I think the reality is, today there isn’t a one-size-fits-all sort of persona of who’s using a food bank.”
For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the Calgary Food Bank reported nearly 37 per cent of the hampers were applied for by at least one working person, which is up nearly six per cent from the year prior.
The agency’s data was released in response to the 2024 HungerCount report from Food Banks Canada published Monday. It’s an annual survey of 770 affiliate and independent food banks across the country, conducted in March of each year.
This year’s HungerCount snapshot showed there were over two million food bank visits across Canada in March of 2024, indicating a strong demand for food bank services countrywide.
The Calgary Food Bank had 40,841 visits this March, up from 34,559 in March 2023.
From said she’s shocked to see the increase in the agency’s working users, and that her organization’s statistics coupled with the HungerCount survey indicates an increase in what she called Canada’s “working poor.”
“Working folks who simply can’t make ends meet are having to come here to get food support,” From said.
Canada’s lowest minimum wage
Not everyone is taken aback by the data around working individuals, however.
One anti-poverty advocate said it’s unsurprising more working Calgarians are having to rely on the food bank considering Alberta recently tied with Saskatchewan for the lowest minimum wage in Canada.
“We haven’t had a minimum wage increase since 2018, but food has become quite astronomical in that period of time,” Meaghon Reid, executive director of Vibrant Communities Calgary, told CBC News.
Reid believes it’s becoming increasingly difficult for low-income individuals to afford to eat.
“Food insecurity is a real signal of how people are doing income-wise in our city and our province,” she said.
Food Banks Canada released its Hunger Report today showing more than 2 million visits to food banks across the country in March. It’s an increase from last year’s record-breaking number. The report also shows annual visits in Calgary are up 28% from last year.
Considering the latest numbers from the Calgary Food Bank, the chief economist with Alberta Central, Charles St-Arnaud, said “it’s clear that Albertans have been hit harder financially in recent years than other Canadians.”
St-Arnaud said wage growth in Alberta has been consistently underperforming the rest of the country.
“What’s interesting here is that it’s not because inflation in Alberta has been higher than the rest of the country since the start of the pandemic, we’ve actually been roughly in line with the national average,” said St-Arnaud.
The economist added that other indicators, such as increased debt and lower spending, would also suggest that Albertan households may be more affected by the recent economic environment than other provinces.
Overall, Reid said, the recently released food bank data points to a need for more income-geared policies federally and provincially that directly support people’s day-to-day lives.
“We know that the solution to food and security is not more food, it’s more income,” she said.