LOWER SACKVILLE/EAST HANTS: Food banks across the country saw 2.2 million visits in the month of March, with those in Nova Scotia accounting for 43,421 of those visits.
That number is according to the Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount, a report on food bank usage across the country.
It was released on Oct. 27 with findings that show the use in N.S. for one month increased 10.3 percent since 2024.
“Nova Scotians deserve better,” said Ash Avery, executive director of Feed Nova Scotia.
“Our communities deserve to be able to live a secure and dignified life, and that type of future is only possible with immediate and targeted government intervention.”
You can read the entirety of the report here: https://foodbankscanada.ca/hunger-in-canada/hungercount/
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This year’s statistics showed that 24% of Nova Scotian food bank clients are employed, the highest amount on record, with another 40% relying on inadequate and outdated social supports.
Almost half of all Nova Scotians who accessed food banks over the past year cited cost of food as the main reason for using a food bank, with another third stating the cost of housing and utilities as the reason for seeking support.
“With social assistance rates being lower than the poverty line, it’s no wonder that our neighbours have no choice but to turn to food support,” said Avery.
“These numbers show that income and social assistance rates in Nova Scotia continue to fall far below the cost of living.”
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Feed Nova Scotia is calling on provincial and federal governments to take urgent action to address poverty and inadequate income.
The organization is asking for the provincial government to focus on immediate improvements to income assistance and tax credit programs, as well as the implementation of a basic income guarantee program.
Feed Nova Scotia is also calling on the federal government to repair Canada’s outdated social safety net: to modernize the Employment Insurance (EI) system by expanding support for precarious, gig, and self-employed workers, and to enhance the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) and the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).
“Charity is not the solution. More food will not solve food insecurity,” Avery said.
“We do not want to be back here next year with similar statistics. We need government intervention, at all levels, and we need it now.”
