HALDIMAND—Food banks across Ontario saw another year of record demand, and local organizations say the pressures outlined in Feed Ontario’s newest Hunger Report are being felt directly in Haldimand County.
The report shows more than 1 million Ontarians turned to food banks between April 2024 and March 2025, making 8.7 million visits – nearly double what was recorded just five years ago. Rising housing costs, the price of food, inadequate income supports, and unstable employment were cited as the core drivers pushing families past the point of managing on their own.
Those drivers match what frontline workers and volunteers are seeing in Hagersville, Caledonia, and Dunnville. Despite deep community support, local food banks say the need has continued to grow while donations – especially food donations – have become less predictable.
At the Hagersville Food Bank, Coordinator Dave Lane said the increase has been steady and unmistakable.
“We have seen a steady increase over the year in our client numbers,” he said. “We are seeing two to three new clients every other week. Total numbers are up 10% over last year, but last year was an exceptional year with increases of 30%.”
Lane said the client mix has remained broadly similar, though they are “seeing a rise in single parent families and an increase in larger families.” Some have recently experienced lack of work, while others face what he called a “drastic increase in housing costs.”
Feed Ontario’s province-wide data reflects the same trend. Single adults now make up half of all food bank households, seniors represent the fastest-growing age group accessing support, and the proportion of working people visiting food banks continues to rise.
Employment is no longer a safeguard against food insecurity, with one in four visitors reporting wages as their primary income.
Lane said the rising cost of groceries has created a double strain: more people need help, and fewer people are able to give.
“Our costs have increased dramatically,” he explained. “Our donations of food at the door are sharply down from last year, due primarily we believe in the rising cost of food. This has forced us to purchase more of our supplies than we would usually.”
Hagersville is now consistently spending more than $12,000 per month on food going out to clients.
“We continue to keep our shelves stocked, but at our added expense,” he said.
For many clients, government assistance simply has not kept pace with rising costs.
“With the cost of housing and food and other essentials, it appears obvious that this assistance is not enough to get by on,” Lane said. “This, along with the lack of affordable housing in Haldimand, are the main contributors to our clients’ insecurity.”
At the Caledonia and District Food Bank, Manager Dorette Allemang offered similar concerns. In 2025, the food bank supported 482 individuals from 183 households, who together made 4,340 visits – 547 more than the previous year.
“The majority of our clients receive a disability related benefit, followed by social assistance and working with low income,” she said.
As need has grown, so has the cost of keeping shelves full.
“We have been needing to purchase more food and other necessities this past year due to the constant increasing cost of living and increasing number of clients needing assistance,” Allemang said, though she emphasized the community’s continued generosity. “Fortunately, we are able to restock our shelves due to the support and generosity of this community.”
She also echoed one of the central themes of this year’s Hunger Report: the lack of affordable housing.
“More affordable housing is needed in our community,” she said.
Caledonia has already begun preparations for its annual Christmas Hamper Program.
In Dunnville, the Salvation Army Family Services office continues to see rapid growth in need.
Family Service Worker Joy Quail said the trend over the past six years has been sharp.
“From January to October this year, we’ve had over 6,600 visits,” she said. “That’s up nearly 3,000 from 2019, so that’s like an 80% increase in just six years.”
Even compared to last year, she said, demand has again increased.
While the Salvation Army’s national Poverty and Socioeconomic Analysis shows Ontarians expressing some cautious optimism about the future, cost-of-living pressures remain their dominant concern.
Quail said she sees the local reality behind the numbers daily: “We are seeing the same pressures as across Ontario,” she said. Like other food banks, she is seeing the rise in working clients.
“This year, 11% of our food bank clients have reported employment income as their main source of income,” she said. That number was 7% in 2019. “That tells us that even steady work isn’t enough to cover basic needs anymore.”
She is also seeing more single adults and seniors.
“Forty-four percent of our clients live alone, and seniors now make up 10% of those we serve,” she said, noting that this is nearly double the rate recorded six years ago.
With many seniors on fixed incomes and fewer able to increase their earnings over time, their need is often persistent, she noted.
Quail said effective, long-term solutions require coordinated action.
“No one organization can do it alone,” she said. “It takes community partners, local leaders, caring neighbours. It takes everybody working together to ensure that people have the essentials they need.”
Things like affordable housing, job training, and mental health resources all play a part, she said, and stronger supports would lift pressure from families now forced to choose between groceries, rent, heat, or medication.
Most urgently, Quail said the Dunnville Salvation Army’s Christmas fundraising efforts are essential to meeting local need.
“Everyone wants to help at this time of year, and the best way they can do that is donate – food drives, cash, monetary gifts,” she said.
Their Christmas kettle campaign is underway, and volunteers remain critical.
“Even donating a couple hours every week would make a big difference for us,” she said. “Every donation truly matters. It all stays here in Haldimand County.”
All three food banks expressed gratitude for local support and hope that awareness raised through the report will lead to renewed community engagement. Despite record demand, each emphasized their commitment to ensuring no one in Haldimand goes hungry.
