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A new report from Food Banks Canada shows inflation continues to drop the purchasing power of Canadians.

The latest data shows 18.4 percent of people in the country live in food-insecure households.

In March of this year visits hit an unprecedented level of more than 1.9 million visits, marking a 32 percent increase as compared to March of 2022 and a 78.5 percent increase from March of 2019.

Those numbers coincide with the highest general inflation rates seen in four decades.

A survey conducted in May showed the top reasons for food bank usage by Canadians were food costs, housing costs and low wages or not enough hours of work.

On a per province basis Quebec and Ontario saw the most visits with 682,723 and 681,292 visits respectively, a massive drop to 195,925 visits marks third place for British Columbia.

The prairie provinces rounded out 4th,5th, and 6th places with 174,311 for Alberta, 57,351 for  Manitoba and 55,753 for Saskatchewan.

Nova Scotia took 7th place with 32,498 visits, however the reports notes visits to Feed Nova Scotia food banks increased significantly.

As of September 30th cumulative visits were 26 percent higher than they were during the same time frame in 2022.

New Brunswick had 29,846 visits giving it 8th place meanwhile Newfoundland and Labrador, had 15,425 visits and Prince Edward Island has 4,212 visits.

6,575 visits were seen in the what the survey called the “territories”, which consist of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, however there was not enough data received for those variables, and the results may not represent the entire territories this year.

A disturbing result from the survey shows 33 percent,, of food bank clients are those under the age of 18, despite only representing 20 percent of the general population.

The report also found 12 percent of those accessing food banks are Indigenous and 26.6 percent are newcomers to Canada.

You can access the full 81 page report here.