Volunteers work at the Food Banks Canada distribution centre in Toronto, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — A new report from the charity Food Banks Canada says food insecurity continues to climb, but new government programs could ease financial strain.

The organization's 2025 "Poverty Report Card" gives Canada a failing grade on food insecurity and unemployment, but a slightly more palatable "C" for legislative progress, making the overall mark a "D".

Citing data from Statistics Canada, the report suggests one-in-four Canadians deal with some form of food insecurity, ranging from worrying about running out of food to going full days without eating.

The data comes from the Canadian Income Survey, which was conducted in 2023 and released earlier this year.

Charity CEO Kirstin Beardsley says the introduction of the Canadian Dental Care Plan and the National School Food Program both hold promise in helping struggling Canadians.

Asked about the report on Tuesday, Families Minister Patty Hajdu pointed to the school food program as helping pad Canadians' wallets.

"Part of the solution — not the entire solution — is making sure that people can access food where they’re at," Hajdu said.

Beardsley said the federal government should double down on strengthening the social safety net so it doesn't fall to charities to keep people from going hungry.

"While the federal government isn't getting a grade you'd necessarily want to bring home to your parents with a 'D,' there has been some legislative progress that we are starting to see the effects of in our data," she said by phone ahead of the report's release.

"And so we want to ensure that that momentum continues so that we can see grades improve over the coming years."

The report cites Statistics Canada data that shows the unemployment rate among young people in March 2025 had climbed by a third since 2023, but Beardsley noted the employment insurance program hasn't changed to account for the gig economy.

"It needs to be realistic for today's workers and just needs a full look-through to make sure that a program built in the '90s makes sense for the workforce of 2025, especially as we head into turbulent economic times," she said.

The report also notes that while the Canada Disability Benefit has been rolled out, it calls the maximum of $200 per month "woefully inadequate" in its initial goal of lifting hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.

An "F" on the report card for legislative progress indicates that the government needs to make legislative changes but is failing to do so, while a "D" means the government is introducing the "minimum" amount of necessary poverty legislation.

The "C" is because the feds introduced "one or two" significant policies, but fails to address other areas of poverty.

Ottawa didn't get any "A" grades, but if it did, it would mean the feds had introduced legislation that was helping low-income people and were setting an example for other levels of government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025