Food bank visits down on P.E.I., but Upper Room says it hasn't seen the same trend - CBC

Mike MacDonald, executive director of the Upper Room Food Bank and Soup Kitchen, says P.E.I.’s legislated goal to eliminate poverty by 2035 is unlikely to be met without drastic changes, such as a guaranteed basic income. (Connor Lamont/CBC)Social SharingFood bank visits on P.E.I. have dropped slightly over the past year, but they’re still well above pre-pandemic levels.

Food Banks Canada’s latest HungerCount report gave P.E.I. an overall grade of D+.

The report found food bank visits in the province fell four per cent year over year, making P.E.I. one of only two provinces to not see an increase.

“However, food bank visits since 2019 are still up in the province 73 per cent, and individuals are up 71 per cent,” said Nick McRoberts, Food Banks Canada’s vice-president of advocacy and research.

The report recorded more than 5,000 food bank visits on P.E.I. in March 2026, the month Food Banks Canada uses to collect data for its annual report.

McRoberts said one-third of those visits involved children under 18, while 21 per cent involved children under 12.

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Mike MacDonald, executive director of the Upper Room Food Bank and Soup Kitchen in Charlottetown, said his organization has not seen the decline reflected in those figures.

“Every day — and today will be no different — there will be 100 individuals, 100 households coming to the Upper Room Food Bank, and we’ll serve 100 meals at our soup kitchen,” MacDonald told CBC’s Island Morning on Monday.

MacDonald noted that the HungerCount figures are collected in March, and circumstances can change a lot over the following months.

“Right now we're getting ready for a busy winter season.… We hear a lot of comments about people trying to heat their homes, and you know, cost of gas and cost of electricity and cost of food,” he said.

The organization purchases about $600,000 worth of food each year. MacDonald said he is concerned that higher costs could affect both the food bank’s purchasing power and donations.

P.E.I. gets a D+ overall in poverty report card, but some areas got an F

He also expects more people who have not used a food bank before may reach a point where they need help.

The Upper Room sees about 60 to 70 households come to the food bank for the first time each month, MacDonald said. He added that about one-third of households using food banks rely on employment income as their main source of income.

“We really need to work at getting a livable wage and whether it’s a basic guaranteed income,” he said.

“People do need more to live on, and they shouldn’t have to make the decision to go to a food bank or not.”

The HungerCount report noted that P.E.I. is the only province in Canada with a legislated goal to eliminate poverty by 2035.

However, it also found that 57 per cent of people surveyed considered government support inadequate.

“I don't think that's a goal that can be met in 10 years unless there's some drastic changes made,” MacDonald said.

“If you're trying to make something happen quickly, guaranteed basic income is probably the thing that is going to have the biggest impact the soonest, and to lift people out of poverty that can afford housing, that can afford their groceries, that can afford to drive back and forth to work every day.”

Thinh Nguyen is a digital reporter with CBC P.E.I. He can be reached at thinh.duc.nguyen@cbc.ca