Recent statistics by the Canada Food Bank revealed food bank usage has increased by 5.2% since 2024 — but how much of this is due to people abusing food bank resources?In an attempt to gather this information from three different Alberta food banks, it became clear it's more of a guess than a definite statistic. Tamsian Bencz Knight, manager of strategic relationships and partnerships at the Edmonton Food Bank told the Western Standard when asked if international students and/or recent immigrants sometimes abuse their resources, she had not seen that happen.However, she noted, "That doesn't mean that there isn't any abuse out there."."If you have a table of free t-shirts, and you say only take one, there will be a couple people out there that don't care about that sign and that will grab multiples."This is exemplified by a recently resurfaced video from 2022 posted on X, in which a group of south Asians is shown vlogging at a food bank in Sydney, Nova Scotia.Tablesalt, the X user who posted the clip, says, "an Indian Youtuber secretly filming in a Sydney Nova Scotia food bank — the ENTIRE place is filled with YOUNG South Asians waiting for food to show up and then raiding it.""The host then encourages his viewers to come to Canada!!".In the clip, a lady filming the vlogger asks him, "And now you're eating free breakfast from Canada right?""Yeah, that's correct," the vlogger responded."It's wonderful — it is 10 times better than whatever you have, if you're from South India, it is better than your group Italies and Sambar, if you're from Gujarat, it's definitely better than [inaudible].""Do come here — and taste Canada like me."On how the Edmonton Food Bank assesses people's access to its resources, Bencz-Knight states, "we have a custom program, a database.""Everyone that comes to us, we do an intake, and everyone in the household needs to have some kind of ID.""We don't do a full needs assessment, because it would be physically impossible to do needs assessment with over 43,000 individuals monthly.""Even a T4 from a previous year will not tell you what the current situation is in that household.".Bencz-Knight also says they open their pantry to allow people to do their own shopping."But again, the pantry cannot do the volumes that a hamper program where those packaged goods come in, we make the hampers and send them back out."She says the pantry program is "reserved for those individuals that we want to slow down those conversations.""We would have somebody that's meeting us every other week for multiple months — okay, let's bring them in, have a conversation, we slow down that engagement."."And then we're able to find out more about that household."Melissa From, CEO of the Calgary Food Bank, told the Western Standard at their food bank, "There is definitely a portion of our client base that would be newcomers to the country.""I think this really varies depending on the status of the individual coming to our country, because of course, there's a variety of situations where either they're receiving more government support because of refugee status, or they're coming in with work visas in place for high demand jobs, and they're able to jump quickly into our economy."However, From states, "I don't know that I have strong data to support that position, that there's a high number of international students."."What I will say is that the Calgary Food Bank does do some status verification when onboarding clients, and we are doing some level of means testing because our demand is so high we have to make sure that the support is going to those who need it most."The first three food bank emergency hampers do not require documentation, as From states, "First and foremost, we are here to be an emergency food support in our community, and so we never want the burden of administration to prevent a family from being able to have dinner on the table tonight.""Any Calgarian in need can receive up to three emergency food hampers with no questions asked, and that just helps us to mitigate those emergency situations where folks don't have time to get documentation or paperwork pulled together, and they just find themselves in crisis."People are allowed three emergency food hampers annually, while for the rest of the food hampers given, individuals must be registered by verifying their income and ID..Mitch Thomas, Executive Director of the Red Deer Food Bank, says a portion of their users are, "actual working people — some of them maybe newcomers, or are just not making enough to get by.""About 50% of those who we serve are people that just need to help for a little while, that it gets settled in our area, or because they're working a few jobs and just not making it."As for the portion of international students using the foodbank, Thomas states, "in recent years, there were some circumstances where perhaps some of our international students didn't have the resources to get by when they arrived in the country.""I would say that there are still pressures on students, yes, but that hasn't been as big a factor for us over the last year.".And when asked how many clients are newcomers to Canada, Thomas states, "I think that is a portion of the challenge.""Alberta has one of the lowest minimum wages across the country, housing costs, you know, are significant."To get an emergency food hamper, photo ID, proof of residency, and proof of income must be provided.They also provide care hampers, "We do provide different programs for people in different places, and some of those folks have the opportunity to come in more regular part of working in communities, trying to accept goals that are realistic based on where a person's from, the barriers they face," stated Thomas.."Somebody who comes in for a care package may come in several times in a month and just take enough they can carry or use."
