Today, 1 in 9 households in Waterloo region is struggling to afford food.


Our Community Food Assistance Network partners are providing food to nearly 73,000 individuals. Among them, about 26,000 children.

Between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, there were close to 622,000 total visits to food hamper programs—a 205 per cent increase since 2019 and the highest number ever recorded.

More than 7,000 households accessed a food hamper program eight or more times last year— a 21 per cent increase—showing that food assistance has become a long-term necessity for many.

Feeding Waterloo region

The Food Bank of Waterloo Region serves as the region’s central hub for food collection, storage, and distribution through the Community Food Assistance Network. By partnering with local organizations that provide food support and other vital services, we help make food accessible across Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, and the surrounding townships. The Cambridge Food Bank supports this work by supplying food to organizations in Cambridge and North Dumfries for meal programs and community food cupboards.

Between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025:

• We distributed a record-breaking 9.6 million pounds of food to the 61 organizations in the Community Food Assistance Network. Sixty per cent of food distributed to the Network was fresh or frozen.
• Our Network partners distributed nearly 200,000 food hampers to people in our community.
• Our Network partners served almost 1.2 million community meals to people in need.

Want to learn more about hunger in Waterloo region and how we’re working to address food insecurity? Check out our 2025 Community Impact report.

Agency spotlight