Ottawa Food Bank reports nearly 600K visits in 2025, double since the pandemic

Pallets of nonperishable food, a quantity estimated to last only a month, are seen in the shipping room at the Ottawa Food Bank warehouse in Ottawa is seen, on Thursday, April 23, 2020. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The Ottawa Food Bank says it continues to see an increasing number of families struggling to put food on the table as it reports about 588,000 visits last year, a number that has doubled since the pandemic.

Natalie Spooner from the Ottawa Food Bank and Eugene Williams from the Caldwell Family Centre spoke with CTV Your Morning Ottawa on Tuesday about the growing need for assistance the charities need to account for the growing demand.

“That need is growing, it’s pretty significant,” Spooner said.

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The food bank partners with approximately 100 member agencies across the city that distribute meals to families and provide various other services.

The Caldwell Family Centre is one of those agencies, providing services in a low-income part of Nepean. Williams says the centre is seeing about 2,000 visits a month.

“We work in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Ottawa. We’re part of the Ottawa Food Bank network and weekly we receive food deliveries. We sort it and give it out to clients who come to see us,” he said.

“It’s a bit distressing. I would call it a food security crisis right now in Ottawa. People can’t afford to feed the kids or pay the rent so they’re showing up at our doors.”

Spooner adds that about one in four households across the city need access to the food bank, up from one in seven in 2022. One in three of those households have children.

“We look for support and are looking for donations to meet that need because when we look at the kind of support we need, it’s to prioritize healthy, nutritious foods,” she said.

In addition to donations, Williams is renewing calls for government support ahead of the municipal election this fall.

“Ask your city councillor, what are they doing to address food insecurity in Ottawa?” he said.

The Ottawa Hunger Report 2024 showed there were 556,000 visits to the Ottawa Food Bank and its associated agencies in 2023.

The 2025 Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) report, conducted last May, shows 25.7 per cent of households experienced food insecurity in 2024, up from 23.7 per cent in 2023 and 16.3 per cent in 2019.

Ottawa City Council voted in September to approve a plan directing city staff to develop a strategy to tackle the root causes of food insecurity in the city.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle

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