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In just seven years, food bank use is up 340 per cent
Representatives from St. Edward the Confessor Parish, NeighbourLink North York Food Hub and ShareLife Executive Director Arthur Peters visit the NeighbourLink Food Hub in December 2025. Working in partnership with St. Edward the Confessor Parish, the Food Hub was a recipient of ShareLife’s 2025 Food Security Grants.
ShareLife
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For the fourth consecutive year, ShareLife, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto (CCAT) and anonymous donors are combatting the worsening food insecurity crisis with $850,000 in community grants.
Half the funding — $425,000 — will be distributed to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP) Toronto Central Council, which supports parish-based food banks and meal programs across the Greater Toronto Area. CCAT will allocate the remaining 50 per cent among various agency and community-based food-related initiatives.
Signalling both a nimble responsiveness to this pressing societal issue and the robustness of this funding program, the value of the contribution has climbed from $620,000 in 2023, to $750,000 in 2024 and $800,000 in 2025 to this year’s record amount.
Arthur Peters, ShareLife’s executive director, said these grants exemplify what the ShareLife appeal has stood for since its inception 50 years ago.
“In 1976, Archbishop (Philip Pocock) created the ShareLife campaign as a way to support the work of Catholic agencies after leaving the United Way,” said Peters. “And since then, and now 50 years later, we support over 40 agencies providing services right across our community and around the world. In the last four years, recognizing the food insecurity crisis taking place in Toronto, the advisory board has indicated they want to be there to help agencies and parishes provide food to people in need.”
The scale of the food insecurity problem in Canada’s largest city was illustrated in the Daily Bread Food Bank’s Who’s Hungry 2025 snapshot. There were a record 4.1 million visits to Toronto food banks in 2025, a rise of 636,000 visits from the year before and a 340-per-cent spike from 2019. One in 10 Torontonians utilized a food bank between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, a sharp increase from one in 20 in 2022. An updated report is expected in October.
To effectively countermand this burgeoning calamity, Agnes Thomas, CCAT’s executive director, highlighted the need for these grants and for organizations to collaborate.
“Addressing food insecurity requires strong local partnerships,” said Thomas. “By supporting agencies that already know the unique needs of their communities, these grants provide immediate relief while affirming the dignity of every person who comes through our doors.”
Louise Coutu, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Greater Toronto Central Council, echoed Thomas’ conviction that these grants provide dignity among its many benefits.
“Every community is different, but one thing remains the same: people are turning to their local parish for help,” said Coutu. “These grants strengthen parish food banks and meal programs, allowing us to respond where the need is greatest and ensuring that our neighbours receive not only food, but compassion, dignity and a welcoming community.”
Peters has seen the difference made by the grants up close.
“One of the organizations we provided funds to last year was the Bradford Helping Hand Foodbank,” said Peters. “Through our support for them, from November 2025 to August of 2026, 4,300 households representing over 112,000 individuals were able to get milk and eggs.
“And a grassroots organization called Blessing Home to Alleviate Poverty is providing meals to low-income families, seniors, isolated seniors, newcomers and school-age youth. Two-hundred beneficiaries were served in the last year as a result of our support.”
Deaf Services Canada, formerly known as Silent Voice Canada, was also aided by the grants. Peters learned during a visit to the agency that if a deaf person visits a food bank and there isn’t a volunteer or employee on site who understands sign language, he or she cannot convey what they need.
“With Deaf Services Canada, we're providing support to them so that they can have a food bank right at their location so that the deaf community can get service that way,” said Peters.
Applications for the 2026 Food Security Grants opened on Aug. 26 and will be accepted until Sept. 30. Interested organizations and agencies may request funding through Catholic Charities, while Catholic parishes may apply through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Greater Toronto Central Council.
Visit sharelife.org for more details.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the August 30, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Charitable partners increase food security grants".
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