National Housing Day: Housing crisis fuels hunger in Toronto 

This National Housing Day, we are reminded that the right to housing is fundamental, yet out of reach for far too many of our neighbours, friends, and family. For Toronto’s food bank clients, the housing crisis is a driving force behind their record-breaking 3.49 million visits to food banks in the past year, a nearly 1 million-visit increase from the year prior. 

Crushed by years of skyrocketing housing costs, many families and individuals are being forced to make impossible choices between paying rent and meeting their other basic needs. Our latest Who’s Hungry report underscores this heartbreaking reality: 

• Food bank clients are left with a median of just $7.78 per day after paying rent and utilities — grossly inadequate for food, transportation, and other necessities. But some are worse off. 

• 1 in 5 food bank clients spend their entire income on rent, leaving nothing for food and other necessities, and putting them at high risk of homelessness. 

• Renters are disproportionately impacted, making up 80% of food bank clients despite representing only half of Toronto households. 

• Toronto food banks also saw a 420% increase in unhoused clients this past year, along with a 90% increase in clients from emergency shelters. 

The structural factors driving these numbers are clear. Toronto is grappling with one of the tightest rental markets in the country, and rental costs are outpacing wage growth. Shockingly, there are statistically no rental units affordable for the lowest-income Torontonians, and due to inadequate rent regulations, rents on units that turn over to a new tenants increase by an average of 31% compared to occupied units.  

In fact, Toronto loses approximately 15 affordable homes in the private market for every 1 affordable unit built. As a result, the average monthly rent for a vacant one-bedroom home was $2,443 in August 2024—almost double the median monthly income of $1,265 for our surveyed food bank clients. 

These conditions have created a reality where even households with higher work hours and incomes than in previous years cannot escape food insecurity. For many, the rent quite literally eats first, leaving little to nothing for other essentials. 

The urgency to act has never been greater. Housing is a legislated human right in Canada, yet 87% of surveyed food bank clients live in unaffordable housing and over one in ten Torontonians now rely on food banks to survive. Addressing this crisis will require bold policy action, including: 

• Expanding the supply of deeply affordable, social, and supportive housing; 

• Strengthening rental protections like rent and vacancy control to preserve affordability; and, 

• Increasing income supports and wages to ensure people can afford the basics. 

This National Housing Day, let’s commit to more than just raising awareness — let’s demand justice. The solutions exist, and the time to act is now. 

Write to your elected officials today, urging them to champion policy solutions that will address housing unaffordability, poverty, and food insecurity at their core. 

Together, we can tackle the housing crisis and ensure no one in Toronto is left without a place to call home — or without food on their table. 

Read more about our housing policy recommendations in the Who’s Hungry 2024 report. 

Take action through our online tool and write to your Member of Parliament, Member of Provincial Parliament, and City Councillor to urgently address this poverty and food insecurity crisis in Toronto.