Food Banks Canada counted 2,355,075 food bank visits in March 2026, the highest March total in its annual HungerCount series, as essential expenses strained low-income household budgets.
The figure, released Oct. 21, was 8.7% above March 2025 and 116.8% above March 2019. HungerCount measures food bank use each March; it does not establish a record across every month of the year.
The total counts visits rather than distinct people. A person who receives food more than once during March is counted each time, and the count includes every member of a household receiving a food hamper.
Food Banks Canada calculated that food, shelter and transportation costs equaled 112% of disposable income for the lowest-income fifth of households in the fourth quarter of 2025. The comparable figure was 91.4% in the first quarter of 2021.
Clients living in market rental housing accounted for 71.8% of those in the 2026 study, while 17.9% reported employment as their main income source. The employment share was 19.4% in 2025. Visits involving children numbered 775,658 in March 2026.
Food banks reported pressure on their own supplies. In a separate survey of 284 food banks, 51% said shortages had led them to give clients less food than usual. Another 21% said they ran out before meeting demand.
A separate Statistics Canada survey offers a broader measure of hardship. Using a 2024 reference year, the agency estimated that 9.8 million people, or 24.0% of Canadians, lived in households experiencing some food insecurity. That estimate concerns access to food, rather than visits to food banks.
Food Banks Canada proposed changes to Employment Insurance, a doubling of the Canada Workers Benefit and up to $500 million from the Food-Link Fund for food infrastructure.
Those are the organization’s recommendations, rather than announced government measures.
