“People are reaching their breaking point.”

That’s according to the Executive Director of Bridges to Hope who was responding to a recent Food Banks Canada report that shows that Canadians made 2 million recorded visits to food banks last March.

That’s almost double the number of monthly visits in March of 2019.

Lesley Burgess says she’s not surprised by the numbers as they’re seeing a similar trend locally.

She says Bridges to Hope is serving about 1,400 people every month, which is a 30 per cent increase over last year. 2023 ended with just over 13,000 individuals served and right now, they’re on track to serve 17,000 by the end of the year.

And demand is only continuing to rise.

Food bank use is up every month says Burgess and “it’s hard to know where it’s all going to end.”