Almost 900,000 requests for food assistance in Montreal: new report

Requests for emergency food assistance in Montreal are on the rise again this year. According to the results of the Hunger Count survey conducted in March 2022, almost 900,000 requests were made to organizations, an increase of nearly 185,000 compared to the previous year.

“While the clientele of food banks has traditionally been largely composed of people on social assistance, there is an increasing number of families, students, and the employed who can no longer make ends meet and need to seek help,” said Moisson Montreal in a press release.

The proportion of households receiving food assistance has fallen from 49.8 per cent in 2019 to 36.6 per cent in 2022, indicative of a clear shift to other clienteles.

“Not only is the face of hunger increasingly diverse, but Montreal also faces challenges as it accounts for 39 per cent of Quebec’s total food assistance while representing only 21 per cent of the population. Inflation continues to rise and the cost of living is increasingly expensive. With the holiday season approaching, the demands are likely to be even greater,” said the organization.

“The face of hunger is very diversified,” said says Maggie Borowiec, Moisson Montreal’s director of philanthropy. “Food insecurity can really happen to anyone right now.”

“We are doing our best to increase the volume of food that we can provide to them,” she added. “Right now the agencies are telling us that the quantity of food that we’re providing them is not sufficient to meet the needs.”

(CREDIT: Pamela Pagano/CityNews)

(CREDIT: Pamela Pagano/CityNews)

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• Food bank usage across Canada hit all-time high in March: report

“We will have to redouble our efforts to redistribute sufficient food to our organizations. Donors, volunteers, and employees are all gearing up to meet the growing demand. Every gesture counts and together we can make a difference,” said Chantal Vézina, executive director of Moisson Montreal.

Highlights from the Moisson Montreal 2022 Hunger Count:

• 675,217 meals and snacks served
• 223,164 visits to a food pantry
• 99,130 people benefit from food pantries of whom 36 per cent are children
• The proportion of households resorting to food pantries whose primary source of income is employment has increased from 12.5 per cent to 15.6 per cent
• The proportion of social assistance recipients has decreased significantly from 41 per cent in 2020 to 36.6 per cent in 2022
• For households whose primary source of income is student loans and grants, the increase is 15.1 per cent

“This really is a systemic issue, and we really need to see governments address food insecurity at the roots,” said Kirstin Beardsley, CEO of Food Banks Canada. “At the root we see low income, poverty, as really the cause and the driver of food insecurity in Canada.”

“We need to lend our voice to build a hunger free Canada.”

#WATCH: Requests for emergency food assistance in Montreal are on the rise again this year. @moissonMTL

READ: https://t.co/DRSe4k2vXd pic.twitter.com/UlnXIbJENc

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) October 27, 2022

(CREDIT: Pamela Pagano/CityNews)

Full Moisson Montreal 2022 Hunger Count report.

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