Saskatchewan food banks seeing 5% increase in demand, report says

A new report on food bank usage across the country is revealing an overall uptick in demand, with Saskatchewan seeing a five-per cent increase from last year.

The annual HungerCount report released by Food Banks Canada says nearly 2.2 million people visited food banks across the country in March 2025 — nearly double the amount from March 2019.

In Saskatchewan, an average of 55,310 people visited a food bank per month this year, with single people, renters and those living off social assistance the most highly represented.

The executive director of a Saskatoon food bank says her organization is seeing around 23,000 people per month, up from around 17,000 people in 2019.

“It’s perhaps been a little bit slower than what you see nationally, but we definitely are seeing an increase in folks who are working using the food bank and the increase in seniors using food banks,” said Laurie O’Connor of Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre.

While unemployment typically acted as a shield against food insecurity, this year’s report shows a different story, with workers making up nearly a fifth of food bank clients.

“Folks who were donating before are now turning to food banks,” said O’Connor.

In Regina, food bank demand is also on the rise, with an increase of about 20 per cent since last year, said John Bailey, Regina Food Bank CEO.

“We are really seeing growth at an unprecedented level,” said Bailey, adding that higher demand can be owed to a number of factors beyond hunger, such as cost of living and food inflation.

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“And then tie that in with some of those folks that are already accessing other supports, and those supports may fall short of the needs that are keeping them away from our door,” he said.

Food Banks Canada is also reporting that 34 per cent of people accessing food banks across the country are newcomers who have lived in the country for less than a decade.

Stephano Mugeta, a counsellor at Saskatoon Open Door Society, says one reason for this is that immigrants are struggling to get recognized for jobs they are qualified for, leading to low wages or unemployment.

“So once they are here, and within one month or two months, they find themselves out of money, and then they have to find their way in,” Mugeta said.

“So they have to find another way to survive.”

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