Food for Thought Blog

Your Guide to Making Food Security a Priority this Federal Election

March 25th, 2025Awareness

The federal election is on April 28, and with food insecurity at record levels across the country, including in Waterloo region, it’s crucial that our elected leaders commit to solutions that reduce hunger in our communities. But understanding where candidates stand on these issues—and what the federal government can do to create lasting change—can be tough. That’s why we’ve created this guide to help you engage in the election process. By using your vote to advocate for a hunger-free future, you can help make food security a priority in this election.

What does food insecurity look like in Waterloo region?

In The Food Bank of Waterloo Region’s 41-year history, the demand for emergency food assistance has never been higher.

  • 1 in 8 households in Waterloo region rely on food support—a staggering 150 per cent increase from just three years ago, when it was 1 in 20.
  • More than 73,600 people in Waterloo region accessed food assistance in 2024—a 25 per cent increase over 2023.
  • 34 per cent of food assistance recipients in Waterloo region are children. That’s about 25,000 kids.

What can the federal government do to address food insecurity?

This rapid rise in demand for food assistance is a clear sign that food insecurity is getting worse. More people than ever are struggling to afford food—whether that’s due to rising rent and mortgage payments, job loss, soaring grocery prices, low wages, illness, or inadequate social assistance.

Thankfully, emergency food programs through our partners in the Community Food Assistance Network are there to help those experiencing immediate need. But they can’t solve the root cause of food insecurity: poverty. To make a real difference, all levels of government, including the federal government, must implement policies that reduce poverty and improve incomes for food-insecure households.

Food Banks Canada, The Food Bank’s federal partner, has put forward several policy recommendations for the federal government to consider:

  • Rebuild Canada’s Social Safety Net
    • Ensure all federal benefits are indexed to inflation and that agreements with provincial governments explicitly forbid clawbacks of provincial social supports for new federal benefit programs such as the Canada Disability Benefit.
    • Make single adults with low incomes a priority consideration in all future poverty reduction measures, including an expanded and modernized Employment Insurance (EI), to ensure that this population is no longer left behind.
      • As part of this, commit to a clear timetable for when your government would bring forward EI modernization reforms.
  • Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis
    • Commit to examining the potential for a national rent assistance program, delivered in collaboration with the provinces and territories as part of the federal-provincial housing agreements.
    • Introduce new investments to build more supportive housing for people who have mental and physical health issues, particularly among populations that are marginalized or living with low incomes.
    • Double the Canada Rental Protection Fund from $1.5 billion to $3 billion.
  • Help Workers with Low Incomes
    • Permanently broaden the EI qualifying definition of “employment” to include self-employed and precarious work.
    • Offer improved support to workers who are currently employed and have a low income.
    • Immediately expand the Working-While-on-Claim (WWC) provisions in EI to allow workers to retain more of their income from temporary/part-time work while on EI without losing benefits or having their income clawed back.
    • Review and reduce the number of qualifying “hours of employment” needed (currently between 420 and 700 hours of insurable employment) to better reflect the nature of modern jobs and working situations.
    • Extend the maximum duration of EI benefits beyond 45 weeks to 52 weeks, followed by a staggered reduction in cash benefits while retaining access to non-cash EI supports (such as training and education) so that people are not forced into our broken and grossly inadequate provincial social assistance system once their EI benefits run out.

What can I do to help make food security a priority in this election?

Consider which candidates truly understand the challenges of food insecurity—and, more importantly, whether they’re committed to addressing key issues like affordable housing, fair wages, and access to social support programs.

Visit candidates’ websites and social media pages to learn more where they stand on food security and poverty-related issues. Attend local debates, town halls, and candidate forums where these topics may come up. And if a candidate knocks on your door, take the opportunity to ask them directly. Here are some questions you can ask:

  • Each month, food banks across Canada receive more than two million visits from community members in need. In Waterloo region, one in eight households rely on food support. How does your party plan to address food insecurity or lower the number of people needing emergency food support?
  • The high cost of housing is consistently listed as one of the main reasons why people need a food bank. In Waterloo region, 64 per cent of households accessing food assistance reported they rent their home. What will you and your party do, in both the short and the long term, to help reduce the cost of housing in general, and more specifically, for low-income people looking for a safe, yet affordable place to live?
  • Wages have failed to keep up with the rising cost of living. One in five food bank visits are now coming from people in Canada’s workforce. This is a record-high rate. In Waterloo region, 11 per cent of households that reported an income source when accessing food assistance indicated they had a job but not enough income to buy food. How will you make sure there are good, well-paying, permanent jobs in our region and throughout Canada?
  • In most communities across Canada, only five per cent of people receive provincial disability benefits. That’s about one in 20 people. Despite this, they make up 30 per cent of food bank visitors. In Waterloo region, 19 per cent of households accessing local food support services reported they receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program payments but did not have enough money left over for groceries. Do you and your party plan to increase the Canada Disability Benefit amount to better support Canadians with disabilities? What other steps will you take to make sure people with disabilities are financially secure and can live with dignity?

Online petition

You can also add your name to Food Banks Canada’s call for change, urging all political parties to commit to reduce food insecurity in Canada by 50 per cent by 2030.

The more we can engage in these conversations, the better equipped we’ll be to elect leaders who will advocate for long-term solutions to food insecurity.

Who’s running for election in Waterloo region?

Click the links below to learn more about who’s running for election in your riding.

Cambridge

Kitchener Centre

Kitchener-Conestoga

Kitchener South-Hespeler

Waterloo

Please note: The Food Bank of Waterloo Region doesn’t operate, review, endorse or approve any external site listed here and is not responsible or liable for any damages arising from linking to or using those sites.