Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming Federal Budget, May 2026

Situation

Household food insecurity (HFI) in Canada remains near its highest level since monitoring began nearly 20 years ago. In 2025, 24% of people in the ten provinces lived in a food insecure household (1). This represents 9.8 million people, including 2.4 million children (nearly one in four), living in households that struggled to afford food (1). These figures exclude First Nations communities and the territories, where rates are often even higher. Since 2022, the prevalence of moderate and severe HFI have increased significantly, indicating the urgency of this growing public health problem (2).

Background

About Ontario Dietitians in Public Health (ODPH)

Ontario Dietitians in Public Health (ODPH) is the professional association of Registered Dietitians working in Ontario’s public health system. As public health professionals, we are guided by evidence, a commitment to equity and upstream determinants of health.  

Household Food Insecurity is an Income Issue

HFI is the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints (3). The experience of HFI can range from concerns or problems of food access (marginal HFI) to the inability to afford a balanced diet and/or missing meals (moderate HFI), to extreme cases of not eating for days (severe HFI).

In 2023, 70% of households receiving social assistance experienced HFI, while 60% of food insecure households in Canada relied on employment income (4). A 2025 Canadian study further found that nearly 90% of those employed have a primary earner with a permanent, full-time job (5). These findings are indicative of income inadequacy affecting households on social assistance and those with employment due to low wages, precarious work, inadequate benefits, and rising costs of housing, food and transportation. HFI is a highly sensitive measure of pervasive material deprivation making it an important measure for understanding poverty and guiding policy decisions.

Health and Economic Impacts

HFI is strongly associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes, including higher rates of hospitalization, longer hospital stays, and increased risk of premature mortality (3). The likelihood of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions increases with the severity of HFI (3). These outcomes place significant strain on Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system and federal health transfers, underscoring the importance of income-based interventions that can both improve population health and reduce public health expenditures.

Current Responses Are Not Ineffective

It is unacceptable that the charitable sector and community-based food programs, including student nutrition programs, are burdened with the responsibility to respond to HFI. Recent declarations of food insecurity emergencies by municipalities[1] across Ontario further highlight the scale and urgency of this issue.

Similarly, while the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit was intended to help Canadians afford food and other necessities, these short-term and modest income supplements are insufficient to address the structural drivers of HFI (6,7).

[1] City of Mississauga; City of Toronto; City of Kingston; City of Brantford; Town of Smiths Falls;  City of Brockville; Town of Cochrane; City of Orillia

Evidence and Impacts

Recommendation 1 – That the government commit to the implementation of a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income (GLBI), such as that proposed in Bill S-206, so that all Canadians can meet their basic needs, reduce poverty, and improve health and social outcomes.

Evidence consistently demonstrates that policies which improve income adequacy such as public pensions, child benefits, and minimum wage increases, lead to reductions in HFI (3). The most compelling example is Canada’s public pension system, where eligibility has been shown to reduce HFI among low-income seniors by nearly 50% (8). Extending this approach to working-age adults through a GLBI would establish a consistent income floor, ensuring that all individuals and families can meet their basic needs regardless of employment status.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, a national guaranteed basic income would reduce poverty by up to 34% for nuclear families and 40% for economic families, based on the Market Basket Measure (9). The National Advisory Council on Poverty has similarly emphasized that a targeted basic income would ensure all individuals reach at least Canada’s Official Poverty Line (10).

Given the scale of HFI and its significant health and economic impacts, Canada requires coordinated, income-based policy solutions. Advancing a GLBI would directly address the root causes of poverty, improve financial resilience, reduce inequalities, and improve health and social outcomes across the population.

Recommendation 2 – That the government raise the maximum Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) to cover the true costs of living with a disability.

At its current maximum amount of $200 per month, the CDB will not lift households out of poverty anywhere in Canada. Though the CDB does reduce the depth of poverty by bringing incomes closer to the deep poverty line in some areas, this is not enough to end disability poverty.

People with disabilities face significantly higher rates of HFI compared to those without disabilities. According to Statistics Canada, 26.4% of individuals with disabilities reported some level of HFI, more than double the rate among those without disabilities (12.5%) (11). The severity and number of disabilities further increase this risk. Even after adjusting for various sociodemographic factors, people with disabilities remain twice as likely to experience HFI (12).

Without an adequate CDB, people with disabilities will continue to be disproportionately affected by HFI. Immediate action is needed to ensure the CDB truly meets the needs of those it is intended to support.  

Recommendation 3 – That the government increase the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for low-income families. 

The introduction of the CCB in 2016 decreased severe food insecurity among low-income families with children by about one-third (13,14). Expanding and increasing the CCB – particularly for low-income households – would further reduce the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity (15,16). The additional amount provided by the CCB to families with children under the age of six has been shown to reduce their risk of household food insecurity (14).

In 2024, nearly one in three children under 18 (32.9%) in the ten provinces lived in a food-insecure household (1). This indicates that the CCB is insufficient to meet the needs of the most vulnerable families (19). The poverty rate for children under age 18 in Ontario more than doubled to 12% in 2023 from a low of 5.6% in 2020 (20).

Children with parents who do not have regularized immigration status are unfairly and arbitrarily excluded from the CCB. Compared to the general Canadian population, non-permanent residents have a much higher poverty rate, and their children are among those most in need of financial support. They are caught in an unfair system that requires them to contribute to the tax system but excludes them from benefiting from tax-delivered supports such as the CCB (21).

References

1. Food Insecurity Policy Research (PROOF). (2026) New data on household food insecurity in 2025. Available at: https://proof.utoronto.ca/2026/new-data-on-household-food-insecurity-in-2025/
2. Government of Canada. (2024). Levels of food insecurity increased in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021. Available at: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241016/dq241016b-eng.htm
3. ​ Li T, Fafard St-Germain AA, Tarasuk V. (2023). Household food insecurity in Canada, 2022. Toronto: Research to identify policy options to reduce food insecurity (PROOF). Available at https://proof.utoronto.ca/
4. Food Insecurity Policy Research (PROOF). (n.d.) Who are most at risk of household food insecurity? Available at: https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/who-are-most-at-risk-of-household-food insecurity/#:~:text=Food%20insecurity%20remains%20a%20serious,people%20with%20a%20single%20income.
5. Food Insecurity Policy Research (PROOF). (2026). The Main Income Earner of Most Food-Insecure Working Households Has a Permanent, Full-Time Job, New Research Reveals. Available at: https://proof.utoronto.ca/2026/the-main-income-earner-of-most-food-insecure-working-households-has-a-permanent-full-time-job-new-research-reveals/
6. White A. (2026) A step in the right direction: The new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit in context. Maytree. Available at: https://maytree.com/publications/a-step-in-the-right-direction-the-new-canada-groceries-and-essentials-benefit-in-context/
7. Samson R, Yassin S, Petit G. (2026). Slaying myths about income support. Policy Options. Available at: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/02/income-support-myths/
8. McIntrye L, Dutton D, Kwok C et al. (2016). Reduction of food insecurity in low-income Canadian seniors as a likely impact of a Guaranteed Annual Income. Canadian Public Policy. 42(3), 274-286. Available at: https://utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/cpp.2015-069
9. Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. (2025). A Distributional Analysis of a National Guaranteed Basic Income – Update. Available at: https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/publications/RP-2425-029-S–distributional-analysis-national-guaranteed-basic-income-update–analyse-distributive-unrevenu-base-garanti-echelle-nationale-mise-jour
10. Government of Canada. (2025). 2025 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/nationaladvisory-council/reports/2025-annual.html
11. Gupta S, Fernandes D, Aitken N, Greenberg L. (2024). Household food insecurity among persons with disabilities in Canada: findings from the 2021 Canadian Income Survey. Health Rep. Available at: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2024008/article/00002-eng.htm
12. Fafard St-Germain AA, Li T, Tarasuk B. (2025). Changes in households’ vulnerability to food insecurity in Canada before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Available at: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2025012/article/00001-eng.htm
13. Brown EM, Tarasuk V. (2019). Money speaks: Reductions in severe food insecurity follow the Canada Child Benefit. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0091743519303524?via%3Dihub
14. Men F, Fafard St-Germain AA, Ross K, Remtulla R, Tarasuk V. (2023). Effect of Canada Child Benefit on Food Insecurity: A Propensity Score−Matched Analysis. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379723000375?via%3Dihub
15. Government of Canada. (2025). Canada Child Benefit (CCB) – Who can apply. Available at: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit/who-apply.html
16. Government of Ontario. Ontario Child Benefit. (2025). Available at: www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-child-benefit
17. Brown EM, Tarasuk V. (2019). Money speaks: Reductions in severe food insecurity follow the Canada Child Benefit. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0091743519303524?via%3Dihub
18. Men F, Fafard St-Germain AA, Ross K, Remtulla R, Tarasuk V. (2023). Effect of Canada Child Benefit on Food Insecurity: A Propensity Score−Matched Analysis. Available at: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379723000375?via%3Dihub
19. Food Insecurity Policy Research (PROOF). (2023). A more generous Canada Child Benefit for low-income families would reduce their probability of food insecurity. Available at: https://proof.utoronto.ca/2023/a-more-generous-canada-child-benefit-for-low-income-families-would-reduce-their-probability-of-food-insecurity/
20. White A. Maytree. (2025) Poverty rising: How Ontario’s strategy failed and what must come next. Available at: https://maytree.com/publications/ poverty-rising-how-ontarios-strategy-failed-and-what-must-come-next/#:~:text=The%20Ontario%20 Child%20Benefit%20(OCB,of%20child%20poverty%20in%20Ontario
21. Income Security Advocacy Centre. (2018). Every Child Counts: Making sure the Canada Child Benefit is a benefit for all children. Available at: https://incomesecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Every-Child-Counts-Canada-Child-Benefit-for-All-September-2018.pdf