Following the inclusion of food insecurity as an indicator for Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018, the Canadian Income Survey (CIS) began the annual monitoring of household food insecurity. Drawing on data from the CIS, this report presents a portrait of household food insecurity in Canada in 2021, examining who is most affected and how food insecurity rates differ across the country. The report also uses CIS data to examine food insecurity rates in 2019 and 2020, providing a look at food insecurity before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report is designed to provide a tool to describe the problem of food insecurity in Canada, monitor trends, and identify priorities for interventions to address this major public health issue. It builds on the extensive work of Health Canada and Statistics Canada in measuring and monitoring household food insecurity.