Toronto food bank visits top 4.1 million for a second year as one in eight children now relies on food banks

Toronto food bank visits have topped 4.1 million for a second consecutive year, with children hit hardest. Daily Bread Food Bank's annual Who's Hungry 2026 report, released November 3, finds Toronto recorded 4.1 million food bank visits in 2026, the second straight year above four million and a 333 per cent increase since 2019, more than four times pre-pandemic levels. (Cover photo is a file photo of Toronto City Hall.)

One in eight children relies on a food bank

The report finds that one in eight Toronto children now relies on food banks, nearly double the rate of one in 15 in 2022. Children account for 25 per cent of Daily Bread's client base, despite making up only 18 per cent of Toronto's population, making them the most overrepresented group among food bank clients. Daily Bread CEO Neil Hetherington called the rise in child hunger 'alarming'. The report also finds that 67 per cent of parents have given up a meal to make sure their children had enough food, and that 17 per cent had a child in their household go hungry at least once a week in 2026.

Help has become routine: returning clients are 84 per cent

The report shows food bank use is no longer a one-off emergency: returning clients now account for 84 per cent of all food bank visits, up from 47 per cent just two years ago. In addition, 61 per cent of food bank clients have a post-secondary degree or higher, and 39 per cent are employed, a reminder that many people seeking help do have income, but wages and benefits have not kept pace with the cost of living. The report draws on Daily Bread's network of 220 food banks and food programs across the city, as well as North York Harvest Food Bank.

What the report recommends

The report makes policy recommendations to all three levels of government, including a provincial Shelter Allowance Reserve Fund to help social assistance recipients regain housing, and a municipal investment of $100 million to preserve Toronto's affordable housing. It argues that persistently high food bank use reflects systemic problems - inadequate income supports, precarious employment and unaffordable housing - rather than short-term hardship for individual families.