Experts and advocates anticipate that more Canadians could be at risk of going hungry as inflation continues to outpace many consumers' grocery budgets.
Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at University of Toronto, says steepening inflation rates are likely to increase the prevalence and severity of food insecurity in Canada.
Statistics Canada says consumers paid 9.7 per cent more for food at stores in April compared with a year ago, the largest increase since September 1981.
The 2020 Canadian Income Survey found that 11.2 per cent of Canadians lived in households that had experienced moderate and severe food insecurity, and Tarasuk says only a fraction of that population uses food charities.
But a couple of food banks say that soaring food prices has accelerated surging demand for their services during the COVID-19 crisis.
The CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank says the charity saw 160,000 client visits in March, up from 60,000 visits in 2019. Neil Hetherington projects that number will increase to 225,000 visits per month by this time next year.