Food insecurity has now officially been declared an emergency in Mississauga.

On Wednesday, the city council passed a motion recognizing that a significant number of its residents do not have regular access to enough safe and nutritious food.

“This formal declaration is a monumental step in recognizing that food insecurity has passed crisis level and is not a temporary problem. Food insecurity has affected too many residents for far too long,” the City of Mississauga said in a news release.

The motion also calls for increasing the municipality’s Emergency Food Security Response Fund as well as collaboration with other levels of government on food security advocacy and awareness campaigns that highlight the need for increased funding for essential supports for residents.

Additionally, it aims to get the provincial and federal governments to declare food insecurity an emergency, improve Ontario’s social assistance programs, garner investments in affordable, supportive and public housing , to help build a stronger workforce through better labor laws that benefit workers and improve their support program, and finally support the delivery of groceries and basic necessities, which would help households struggling to immediately afford food and housing.

“Unacceptable and unsustainable”

According to a recent report from Food Banks Mississauga, the city of 716,000 has the fastest growing rate of food bank use in Ontario, with 1 in 13 residents, or 8% of the population, having visited one between June 2023 and May 2024. In 2019, 1 in 37 Mississauga residents used a food bank.

The report also reveals that the organization and its network of more than 60 branches served more than 56,000 customers during this period, an increase of 58 percent from the previous year. From June 2023 to May 2024, Mississauga food banks recorded more than 420,000 visits, representing an increase of almost 80% year over year.

And demand is expected to rise steadily according to Statistics Canada and Food Banks Canada, which estimate that a quarter of all Canadian residents will need help from a community program.

“This situation is unacceptable and unsustainable,” the City of Mississauga said in a statement, adding that its rate of use of food banks exceeds the provincial average.

The municipality added that while food banks “continue to fill a critical gap, this is a larger problem that they – and we – cannot solve alone, and it is not just a problem of Mississauga.

That being said, the City is asking the provincial and federal governments to help it work toward “sustainable change by addressing the root causes and structural issues at the origin of food insecurity.”

“We need long-term, sustainable legislation, policies and programs that reduce poverty and support basic human rights. We must come together to do better for our communities,” said Mayor Carolyn Parrish.

Meghan Nicholls, CEO of Food Banks Mississauga, said food insecurity and demand for nonprofit services now far exceed what was seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have seen an increase of almost 80 percent in visits to food banks over the past year. However, despite our best efforts, we were only able to increase our revenue by 2 percent during the same period,” she said.

“The lack of provincial and federal funding for food banks and for people facing food insecurity means we continue to face an uphill battle as more and more of our neighbors fall behind.