Despite low-earning Canadians' disposable income rising in the last decade, food bank usage has reached record numbers; though counterintuitive, there might be a measurable explanation for this.According to data from the food professor's, or Sylvain Charlebois', agri-food lab at Dalhousie University, the lowest-earning 20% of households' disposable income has actually increased by 43% in the last decade.A larger increase than that of the top 20% of income earners in the country, who, between 2015 and 2025, had their disposable income increase by 38%.But then why is food bank usage so high?.The rub lies in the escalating cost of essentials, which leaves groceries as an afterthought for many.Accounting for essentials such as transportation and housing, what remains for food for the lowest-income earning Canadians is, as of 2026, an average deficit of $742 annually.This is how: "Rising incomes can coexist with hunger in Canada," Charlebois explains. To put this into perspective, in 2020 the estimated disposable income before grocery and other costs accounted for in low income households was an estimated $9,522..Now it becomes clearer why, according to the Food Banks Canada 2026 Annual Report, in March 2025, there were nearly 2.2 million visits to food banks across the country about 5% of Canada's population at the time.In spite of the incomes for the bottom 20% in Canada outpacing grocery prices, "housing and other essentials squeeze what remains for food," reiterates Charlebois.
