Ottawa, ON – After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, life has never been more expensive for Canadians. Today, Food Banks Canada released new data showing that record numbers of Canadians are struggling to keep their heads above water, having to rely on food banks to survive.

According to the Hunger Count report for 2024, food banks recorded a historic 2,059,636 visits in March 2024 alone. This is an increase of 6 percent from last year and a shocking 90 percent increase from 2019. A third of these visits were made by children.

As Food Banks Canada described, “it took around 25 years before food bank visits surpassed 1 million in a month … Incredibly, food banks recently registered another sombre milestone. They saw an additional one million visits per month — within the past five years.” This means it took food banks just one-fifth of the time to reach two million than it took to reach one million.

As a result of the historic levels of demand placed on food banks, nearly 30 percent of food banks across the network reported running out of food in the last twelve months. Another 56 percent reported giving out less food to avoid running out before they could serve everyone. In 2021, these numbers were 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Food Banks Canada also reported that up to 25 percent of Canadians are living in a state of poverty, while 35 percent of Canadians feel worse of financially. Among those who reported experiencing a worsening financial situation compared to three months ago, 40 percent cited the rising cost of food as the primary reason. 30 percent of Canadians are now worried about feeding themselves and their families.

Canadians are visiting food banks in record numbers because Trudeau’s inflationary taxes and spending is driving up the cost of everything. And instead of providing Canadians with the relief they deserve, Trudeau decided to hike the carbon tax by 23 percent this spring, as part of his plan to quadruple the tax by 2030.

The NDP-Liberal Government just doesn’t understand that if you tax the farmer who grows the food, and the trucker who ships the food, you end up taxing the Canadian who buys the food. Only Common Sense Conservatives will bring home lower prices by axing the tax on groceries.