Every year, food banks across the country are setting new records. This year, they recorded nearly 2.2 million visits in a single month. That’s double the monthly usage recorded just six years ago. It took decades to reach one million visits in a month, and it has now taken half a decade to double that.
Behind every food bank visit is a story. A parent skipping meals so their kids can eat. A senior choosing between medication and groceries. A worker juggling multiple jobs and still coming up short at the end of the month. Theses are not outliers.
The annual HungerCount is Food Banks Canada’s signature report documenting food bank use in Canada. It is a cross-sectional census survey of most food bank agencies, organizations, and programs, within and outside of the Food Banks Canada network. The HungerCount provides a point in time snapshot of food bank use in Canada.
Food Banks Canada is always looking for ways to improve the HungerCount report. If you have questions about the report, or ideas on how we could improve it, we would like to hear from you. Please get in touch at info@foodbankscanada.ca and put HungerCount in the subject line of your message.
To learn more about our data collection and analysis processes for HungerCount 2025, click here to download the full PDF report.