Fewer Canadians were food insecure during the first year of the pandemic

The first year of the pandemic was a time of tremendous uncertainty, especially among Canadians who had lost their job, were working fewer hours or were already economically vulnerable when the pandemic hit. One concern at the start of the pandemic was the financial ability of Canadians to put food on the table.

Studies conducted in the spring of 2020 suggested that over one in four Canadian households could be financially vulnerable as a result of the pandemic.

When we asked Canadians about their food security situation in the fall of 2020—that is, whether they have enough money to put food on the table—just under one in ten (9.6%) told us they experienced some level of food insecurity in their household over the previous year, down from one in eight in 2017/2018 (12.6%).

Various data sources suggest that emergency government financial relief benefits likely offset a potential surge in low income in 2020, which may have contributed to the decline in food insecurity in late 2020.

Nevertheless, over 3 million Canadians were living in a household with some level of food insecurity in the fall of 2020. Of these, nearly 2 million reported moderate or severe food insecurity, which is linked to more serious health complications and premature death.

Food insecurity was unchanged or down in virtually every segment of society, including more economically vulnerable groups such as Indigenous people, lone-parent families and renters.

A notable change occurred among Canadians living in households with less than a high school education. The level of food insecurity in these households fell from 21.2% in 2017/2018 to 14.8% in the fall of 2020, while the share of the food secure homes rose from 78.8% to 85.2% over this period.

While most workers reported little change or lower levels of food insecurity, those in lower paying jobs were much less likely to be food insecure in the fall of 2020 compared with pre-pandemic, with large declines occurring among workers in retail trade (from 15.3% pre-pandemic to 9.6% in the fall of 2020) and accommodation and food services (from 19.6% to 11.9%).

Both before and during the pandemic, the main source of household income served as a key marker of food insecurity. For example, the share of Canadians reporting moderate or severe food insecurity over both periods was highest, at over 40%, among those in households reliant on social assistance as their main source of income in the previous year, followed by those receiving Employment Insurance.

This points to the ongoing challenge of household food insecurity among working-age people outside the workforce.

The temporary nature of the relief benefits, along with the recent surge in inflation—including higher food prices—may strain the financial resources of many Canadian households and, therefore, raise their risk of falling back into food insecurity or becoming food insecure for the first time. In June, food prices were up 8.8% year over year on average.

This story is just scratching the surface. The report “Household food insecurity in Canada early in the COVID-19 pandemic,” tells the full story with charts and tables as well as a description of how the data were collected and analyzed, and potential data limitations.