Have immigrants become frequent visitors to food banks?
Commuters in Quebec can't afford food.
Annie Bouchard, CEO of Quebec food bank Centre communautaire Pro-santé, said that there are many more recent arrivals among those asking them for help than before. In June 2022, only 3% of their clients were immigrants. That figure has now reached 38%.
According to Bouchard, the region has experienced several major crises in the last 3 years. It started with the pandemic and then was exacerbated by the housing shortage and spring floods. All of this combined to drive up prices at a time when more immigrants have begun arriving in the province.
Bouchard comments that people come to work and earn and therefore do not have large savings:
"When they arrive in a new country, they arrive with not a lot of savings. I'd say it's rare for people to have more than CA$ 2,000 in their account."
At the same time, these people are in a very vulnerable position in case of dismissal. Priority is given to rent, furniture and basic needs for family members, especially children. There is very little money left for food, and that's where food banks come in. And those, in turn, exist on donations.
Not just Quebec
HungerCount's annual report, based on surveys sent to food security organizations, found that in March 2023 alone, nearly two million people across Canada used food banks, about 5% of the population.
This is 32% higher than in the same month in 2022 and more than 78% higher than in March 2019. Notably, there are more working people among food bank users in Canada than ever before. Which means the problem isn't unemployment — despite having a steady income, many Canadians still don't have enough money for groceries.
Why is that?
Experts see the reason as the low minimum wage combined with the skyrocketing cost of living. The Canadian government is trying hard to calm the economy — and partly succeeding. Hourly wages have been rising steadily, and inflation has been contained — it is still at 3.1%.
Separately, the federal government is busy keeping food prices in check — on this issue, officials are tightly cooperating with major grocery chains. And those, in turn, are coming up with their own ways to meet Canadians' needs. We can only hope that a set of these measures will show the first results in the near future.
