Food Insecurity in Toronto

Food Insecurity & Why it Matters

Food insecurity means not having enough money to reliably get the food one needs. Having a job is often not enough. More than half of food insecure households in Ontario are working and rely on income from wages, salaries or self-employment.

Food insecurity is more than just a lack of food. It is a sign that other basic needs are not being met. Food insecure households must often choose between paying for food and paying for other needs, like rent. Poverty is the root cause of food insecurity.

Food insecurity is a serious issue.  It is closely linked to many physical and mental health problems. People experiencing food insecurity may:

• Worry about running out of food
• Pay for other needs, such as rent, instead of food
• Eat less healthy or lower quality foods
• Eat the same few foods for all their meals
• Eat less food than they need
• Skip meals
• Go without eating so their children can eat
• Go a whole day or several days without eating

Risk of Food Insecurity in Toronto

Food insecurity affected one in four (24.9%) Toronto households in 2023.

The risk of food insecurity is higher for individuals and families that:

• Have a low income
• Receive social assistance, such as Ontario Works (OW) or Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), as their main source of income
• Are living with a disability
• Rent, as opposed to own, their home
• Are led by lone parents, especially female lone parents
• Are racialized, especially people who identify as Black
• Identify as Indigenous

Anti-Black racism and colonialism embedded in past and current policies, practices, laws, institutions, systems and structures has led to racial inequalities linked to food insecurity.

The Cost of Eating in Toronto

The City monitors food affordability every year using the Nutritious Food Basket, a tool adapted from Health Canada’s National Nutritious Food Basket.

Nutritious Food Basket (NFB) data is used to assess the cost of living in Toronto. See the cost of living in Toronto for low-income households section below.

In 2023, the monthly cost of the NFB for a family with two adults and two children, ages 8 and 14, was $1,177.

The Cost of Living in Toronto for Low-Income Households

Many low-income households have little or no money left over at the end of the month after paying for basic needs.

The following scenarios are based on real costs of living in Toronto:

• A family of four receiving income from Ontario Works and living in a market rental apartment would need an extra $4,000 to pay for their rent, transportation, child care and food each month.
• A couple receiving income from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and living in a subsidized apartment would have only $165 after paying for rent, transportation and food each month.
• A single adult earning full-time minimum wage income and living in a market rental apartment would need an extra $270 each month after paying for rent, transportation and food.

Visit the Open Data portal for the full dataset, including 11 household scenarios.

Moving Beyond Food Responses

Charitable programs like food banks are relied upon as the ‘solution’ to address hunger in Canada. While they are important to meet urgent needs, they cannot and will not reduce long-term food insecurity.

Food banks were originally intended to provide short-term relief during the recession in the 1980s. Since then, charitable food assistance has become the most common response to hunger, while the need steadily increased.

Moving toward Income Solutions

Food insecurity is rooted in poverty. Long-term solutions are required to reduce food insecurity, such as:

• Affordable housing, transportation and child care.
• Secure, quality jobs, with living wages and benefits. Toronto’s living wage is $25.05 (Ontario Living Wage Network).
• Social assistance programs that provide adequate benefits to cover real costs of living.

Taking Action

Food Security Initiatives

The City leads many initiatives that improve food security for residents. For example,

• Food access is a key pillar of the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
• The Poverty Reduction Office is leading work to update Toronto’s Food Charter.
• The Black Food Sovereignty Plan addresses long-term food insecurity, anti-Black racism and structural inequity in Toronto’s local food system.
• The City’s Reconciliation Action Plan commits to making it easier for people to find and use traditional Indigenous foods and medicines.

How to Get Involved

Reducing poverty and food insecurity requires action from all levels of government working together.

• Learn more about the root causes and impacts of poverty and food insecurity.
• Learn more about the right to food.
• Understand that food banks and other charitable food programs are not a long-term solution to hunger.
• Support local businesses that pay staff a living wage.
• Make your voice heard – speak to your municipal, provincial and federal government officials about what they are doing to reduce poverty.
• Vote for solutions that promote dignified access to food for all people in your community.

Learn More

The City of Toronto is not responsible for the content of the external websites listed below. The City of Toronto does not endorse, approve, or guarantee the accuracy of the information available on these websites.

Learn more about food insecurity and the right to food with the following resources and links:

• Food Insecurity in Toronto 2022 infographic – City of Toronto infographic about food insecurity in the city
• PROOF – University of Toronto research group that studies food insecurity and the policy practices that can reduce it
• No Money for Food is… Cent$less – an educational awareness campaign about food insecurity in Ontario
• Position Statement on Responses to Food Insecurity – report from the Ontario Dietitians in Public Health
• Ontario Living Wage Network – an organization that annually calculates the living wage for regions in Ontario
• Who’s Hungry Report – Daily Bread Food Bank annual report describing food bank usage in Toronto and advocating for policy changes to address it
• The Right to Food – Canada without Poverty webpage about international agreements that promote the right to food and government responsibilities
• Right to Food – FoodShare Toronto campaign that seeks to highlight what the right to food looks like for Toronto communities
• Indigenous Food Systems Network – learn more about Indigenous Food Sovereignty