Conservatives press Liberals on cost of living as reports show food bank use soaring

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Poverty and hunger ‘becoming the new normal in Canada’: Food Banks Canada report

‘It is shocking’: Food Banks Canada researcher on the increased demand

Food banks see ‘soaring demand’ across Canada

New report finds 33 per cent of food bank users are children

OTTAWA — The Conservatives are pressing the federal government over the rising cost of living as new reports show more Canadians are turning to food banks and community organizations.

A new Food Banks Canada report says monthly visits to food banks came close to 2.2 million in March 2025, five per cent higher than the year before and nearly double the rate in 2019.

The report says food banks in Canada received a “historic and very concerning” number of visits this year, “far more than enough to call an emergency.”

Another report from the Daily Bread Food Bank and North York Harvest Food Bank says more than one in 10 Torontonians now rely on food banks.

In a news release, the Conservative Party of Canada says that “only a decade of Liberal incompetence could make hunger the new normal.”

The party also says every dollar added to the national deficit “drives up the cost of everything” and Canadians need “affordable homes, full cupboards, and hope.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2025.

— With files from Cassandra Szklarski

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press