Ottawa food banks face rising demand as the holiday season approaches

Food banks in Ottawa are heading into their busiest season with less room to give than they had a year ago. Food prices have risen 27 per cent since July 2020, demand has grown, and two community centres in the city's west end are running close to their limits.

Experts and food centre leaders described the situation at a Hintonburg town hall on November 9, where housing researchers and local service organizations called on governments at every level to do more.

What the numbers show

Ottawa Food Bank programs recorded 588,866 visits in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to figures cited at the town hall. That is more than double the number recorded before the pandemic.

More than one in four Ottawa households faced food insecurity in 2024, up from 15.3 per cent in 2019. Food insecurity means a household did not have reliable access to enough food.

Nationally, 9.8 million Canadians, including 2.4 million children, lived in food-insecure households in 2025, according to PROOF, a food insecurity research program at the University of Toronto.

Two centres under pressure

The Parkdale Food Centre, in the Hintonburg area, has seen its kitchen meal service grow from about 100 meals a day to between 150 and 170, with one day reaching 200. Its monthly costs are $17,000 to $18,000 for food and $5,000 for the kitchen, according to executive director Beth Ciavaglia.

Ciavaglia told the town hall that milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs are the items most in demand but hardest to source. "Those are really in-need items, but we can't continue to purchase at the old volume," she said, as quoted by the Kitchissippi Times.

The centre also faces a forced move within two to four years. The building its grocery program operates from is set to be redeveloped, and the centre will need to find a new space while continuing to serve clients.

The Westboro Region Food Bank accepts more than 30 appointments a day. Each appointment represents between one and ten people. Rev. Chung Yan Lam, the centre's leader, told the town hall the bank is "overstretched to cover something that it has never been able to."

What drives the demand

The 27 per cent rise in food prices between July 2020 and July 2025 has cut the buying power of every dollar food centres receive. Kaite Burkholder Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, said three in 100 Ottawa tenants are evicted each year, and eviction is one of the most common paths into ongoing food bank use.

Burkholder Harris also cited a Niagara region shelter diversion program that reduced shelter stays and food bank reliance by connecting people to housing and support before a crisis. "Safe, secure housing should be considered a basic human right," she said, as reported by the Kitchissippi Times.

The Alliance's data puts 85,000 people experiencing homelessness across Ontario. In Ottawa, 300 people are sleeping outdoors, according to the same data.

What the City can do

Ottawa's new City Council takes office on November 15. Its members have made a range of promises on housing and social services. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe promised during the campaign to move from 20,000 affordable homes to 30,000 by the end of the decade, to add 650 supportive housing units within five years, and to end the use of hotels for homeless families. Under the Municipal Act, 2001, the new Council must hold its first meeting by December 16.

The 650 supportive housing units would be permanent homes for people who are currently cycling through shelters, hotels and food banks, according to advocates at the town hall. Experts at the Hintonburg town hall called on City Hall to shift funding toward housing prevention rather than emergency shelter, to strengthen tenant protections, and to improve minimum wage alignment with inflation. Without action on those fronts, they said, food banks will continue to absorb pressure that housing policy has not addressed.

What residents can do now

Parkdale Food Centre and the Westboro Region Food Bank both accept donations of non-perishable food items and money. Financial donations let centres buy fresh items, which they cannot receive as physical donations at the same volume. Ciavaglia listed eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt as the items most needed and hardest to source from donations alone.

The Ottawa Food Bank at ottawafoodbank.ca lists all member agencies across the city, including hours and locations. The holiday season is the food bank network's highest-demand period of the year. Many member agencies are in community centres, churches and neighbourhood hubs across Ottawa's wards.

Residents who want to speak to the City about housing and food security can attend public meetings of the new City Council after it meets for the first time by December 16, 2026. Council agendas and meeting times are posted at pub-ottawa.escribemeetings.com.