Ontario’s poverty rate could jump dramatically this year as the recession throws more people under the poverty line.
The Executive director of the Ontario Association of Food Banks, Adam Spence… says unless we act, an extra 475 thousand people will be living in poverty this year.
Spence says the provincial rate could jump from 10.3 percent to 13.6 percent putting more and more pressure on Food banks for help.
Spence says pressure is already increasing in rural communities for food bank assistance, especially in towns where there is only 1 or 2 major employers and they have had to layoff staff.
The Executive director of the Food Banks group says many people are surprised to learn that the rate of hunger in rural areas is often double what it is in major centres like Toronto.
Spence says the Ontario government needs to act in the upcoming budget to help low income families during the recession.
He says improving Ontario’s child benefit level and bolstering income supports would go a long way to helping ease the demands on Food Banks.