HAMILTON — More than 20,600 people use Hamilton food banks each month, according to Hamilton Food Share, as a new national report records another rise in demand across Canada.

The local network says it supplies fresh and non-perishable food to 22 hunger-relief programs across the city. Chief executive Radhika Subramanyan told CHCH that Hamilton Food Share distributed 5.9 million pounds of food in the previous year, which she described as a record in the organization’s 36-year history.

National count reaches 2.35 million visits

Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount 2026 counted 2.35 million visits to food banks and related community organizations in March. That was 8.7 per cent higher than in 2025 and 117 per cent above the 2019 count.

The national figure counts visits, not unique people. A person who used a food bank more than once during March can appear more than once in the total. Hamilton Food Share’s local website separately describes more than 20,600 people receiving support each month.

Ontario recorded 846,724 visits in the March snapshot, up 10.9 per cent from 2025. Food Banks Canada says its study encompasses more than 5,500 food banks and community organizations; changes in collection methods limit some comparisons for Quebec, Manitoba and the territories.

Workers and children remain a large share

Food Banks Canada reports that 18 per cent of clients were employed, compared with 12.2 per cent in 2019. Children made up 32.5 per cent of clients, representing nearly 776,000 visits, while 72 per cent of clients lived in market-rent housing.

Those figures describe people using participating food programs and should not be read as a measure of every Canadian experiencing food insecurity. Food Banks Canada is also an advocacy organization; its release calls for changes to Employment Insurance, the Canada Workers Benefit, disability supports, affordable housing and food infrastructure.

Hamilton Food Share says its network is open to anyone needing emergency food support. Its website lists local food banks, meal programs and other services.

Sources: Food Banks Canada’s October 21 HungerCount release and regional table; Food Banks Canada’s 2026 report hub; Hamilton Food Share’s current service figures; CHCH’s October 21 interview with Hamilton Food Share.

Editorial illustration of community food support in Hamilton; not a photograph of a food bank, client or HungerCount participant.