Advocacy & Issues 04/07/2025 On Sunday March 23rd, 2025, the writ dropped, marking the start of an election period to elect Canada’s 45th Parliament. Election Day is scheduled for Monday, April 28th, 2025. But this election is unlike any other before it. Its outcome will profoundly shape the lives of millions across the country. Canada is facing a crisis of food insecurity—where access to food is inadequate due to financial constraints. 8.7 million people across the country are struggling to put food on their tables. Indigenous and Black people are facing even greater difficulties due to systems rooted in colonialism and racism. Food prices continue to rise, wages remain stagnant, and our social safety net isn’t keeping pace. This untenable situation could worsen as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods threaten millions of jobs, trade, and our economy. That’s why Community Food Centres Canada has launched #NoMoreScraps, a campaign demanding action. We’re calling for: A commitment to cut food insecurity in half by 2030 Ensuring everyone can afford the basics Upholding Indigenous food sovereignty We’re inviting our partners, stakeholders, and all Canadians to join us in fighting for a country where everyone can afford to eat every single day. But how did we get here? A crisis grown over time Although the number of people facing food insecurity in Canada is at an all-time high, it has grown for years. In 2019, 6.1 million people couldn’t afford to eat. That number catapulted by 42% to 8.7 million in 2023, and includes 2.1 million children. And it’s not just the number of people facing food insecurity that has ballooned. Food insecurity has also increased in severity over time. The number of people who are forced to cut down on the amount or quality of food they eat, to skip meals, or to even go for days without eating surged up from 4.2 million in 2018 to 6.4 million in 2023. That’s a whopping 52% increase in just four years! What’s worse? All these numbers don’t even include people who live on reserves, in very remote areas, and in institutions, and those who are homeless—populations we know experience even more significant hardships in accessing food. Food charity, a non–response For decades, successive governments have neglected their responsibility to tackle food insecurity with the robustness that it requires. They have relegated that duty to the charitable food sector. Food banks and other non-profit organizations continue to be on the frontlines of this problem every day, providing food and other essential support to struggling individuals and families—fighting the good fight. But they simply can’t keep up. Our partners across the country consistently share with us how they are in a constant state of juggling: increasing demand for their food and other essential programs, the ever-growing costs of running those programs, and the sense that relief is nowhere in sight. The Depot Community Food Centre, our partner in Montreal, shared about 10,000 food baskets with 2000 households in 2022. A year later, they shared nearly double that number of food baskets with nearly 3200 households. And from 2022 to 2023, their budget grew by 32%. To accommodate all their community members , The Depot has had to cut down on the amount of food they share. The Depot’s experiences reflect those of many other frontline organizations. A problem of poverty, not a shortage of food But let’s be very clear: poverty is the root cause of food insecurity in Canada, not bad luck, fate, or personal choices, and certainly not a shortage of food. Canada has vast amounts of wealth and can produce more than enough food for all its residents. Millions of people simply don’t have enough money to buy food. Having a job is no longer enough to escape poverty. Over the last 30 years, the prices of basic necessities have grown twice as much as incomes have. And as food and grocery prices outpace wages, millions of people are being forced to make difficult choices. In most cases, food is the first thing people cut from their budgets to prioritize paying their rent or mortgage or buying medication. Work has become increasingly precarious. Many more people than before are having to make do with jobs that provide low or unpredictable wages and fewer protections. It is therefore unsurprising that 60% of all households experiencing food insecurity receive wages or salaries as their main source of income. The economy isn’t working for vast numbers of people. An inadequate, outdated social safety net Over many years, Canada has built a social safety net comprising a patchwork of income and social programs to support its residents, including workers, families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Some of these programs, such as the Canada Child Benefit, Guaranteed Income Supplement, and Employment Insurance (EI), have contributed to significant reductions in food insecurity. Yet, our social safety net persistently fails to keep pace with the rapidly changing socio-economic environment, including incessant inflation and an increasingly precarious labour market. For example, the last major EI reform was conducted 30 years ago. Today, the EI program excludes many precariously employed workers. Those who aren’t eligible for EI or can’t work areforced to rely on provincial/territorial social assistance programs which are notoriously inadequate. Indigenous food systems and reconciliation Indigenous Peoples face disproportionately high food insecurity due to colonial policies that dismantled traditional food systems and severed ties to the land. A profit-driven food system replaced Indigenous food sovereignty, making traditional foods harder to access. Today, programs like Nutrition North fail to close the gap—food remains far more expensive in Northern and reserve communities, worsening the crisis. So what are the next steps? We’re demanding action this federal election. Join the movement at NoMoreScraps.ca: ✅ Send a letter to federal candidates in seconds ✅ Organize a local event with our toolkit ✅ Share our campaign video—use #NoMoreScraps ✅ Sign our open letter as an organization Hunger is a policy choice. No more excuses. No more delays. No More Scraps!