The increased demand for food assistance this year, along with the regular rise in the number of users during the holiday season, has put pressure on Canadian food banks this month, according to directors of two food bank associations.

Shona Bissell, the executive director, said: "Christmas is always a busy time for our food banks, but especially when Christmas is added... In addition to the regular increased needs throughout December, this adds pressure on food banks."

Organizations across the country have reported an increase in the number of users this year. The national food bank network in Canada recorded 1,935,911 food bank visits in March – the latest available data – an increase of 32.1 percent from March 2022 and a jump of 78.5 percent from March 2019.

In Ontario, visits increased by 36 percent – to 5,888,685 – between April 2022 and March 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the November edition of Feed Ontario.

Bissell also said demand is so high in her network that she is unable to build food reserves. She said in an interview: "Once this food arrives, it is distributed to those in need." "Every year it seems we are feeding more and more people."

On the other side of the country, Martin Munger, the executive director of food banks in Quebec, says his organization distributed twice the number of aid packages it distributed in 2019 this year. Tens of thousands of food baskets were distributed in the period leading up to Christmas. "He said alone. Now, stocks are low.

He added that demand "has been high throughout the year, and it was higher during the holiday season compared to previous years."

Despite the challenges, both Bissell and Munger expect to continue being able to raise enough money and donations to meet demand without turning people away. But Munger hopes the government implements more sustainable solutions to help people feed themselves instead of resorting to food banks, an emergency resource now serving one in every ten Quebec residents.

He added: "It has to stop increasing." "It is unacceptable, and food banks were not developed to respond to demand on this scale continuously."