Article – As Canadians dig deeper into pockets for food bank donations, we’re left asking: where exactly does this money go? That question gains urgency as food insecurity touches more households across the country.
The recent surge in families needing emergency food assistance has sharpened focus on the infrastructure supporting our national food bank system. Behind the collection bins and donation drives lies a complex network that deserves greater scrutiny.
“What we’re seeing now is unprecedented pressure on food banks with a 32% increase in visits over pre-pandemic levels,” explains Kirstin Beardsley, CEO of Food Banks Canada, in her testimony before the parliamentary committee on agriculture last month. This represents nearly 2 million monthly visits to food banks nationwide.
Yet despite this crisis, questions about administrative expenses remain largely unanswered. How much of each dollar donated actually provides food for hungry Canadians? The lack of standardized reporting makes this surprisingly difficult to determine.
I visited three food banks in the Ottawa Valley last week, speaking with volunteers who express frustration over the limited information available to them. “We see the need growing in our community every day,” says Marian Kelley, who has volunteered for nine years. “But sometimes I wonder if the structure above us could be more efficient.”
Food Banks Canada serves as the national coordinating body, supporting over 5,000 local hunger-relief programs. Their most recent available financial statements show administrative costs consuming approximately 14% of revenue. While not unreasonable for a national charity, the variation among provincial and local organizations ranges widely.
Feed Ontario, the provincial association, reports spending 9% on administration according to their 2022 annual report. Yet some local food banks operate with administrative overheads below 5%, relying heavily on volunteer labour and donated space.
This inconsistency makes assessment difficult for potential donors. Unlike government programs with standardized reporting requirements, the food bank network has evolved as a patchwork of independent charities with varying levels of transparency.
The Canada Revenue Agency requires registered charities to file annual returns, but these documents often lack the detail necessary for meaningful comparison. Some organizations bundle administrative and fundraising costs, while others separate them, creating apples-to-oranges comparisons.
“Donors deserve clarity,” argues Dr. Malcolm Burrows, head of philanthropic advisory services at Scotia Wealth Management. “There’s nothing inherently wrong with paying for quality administration, but transparency builds trust. Without trust, the entire system suffers.”
The impact extends beyond donor confidence. When administrative practices vary widely, it creates inequities in service delivery. Communities with well-managed food banks may receive more comprehensive support than those served by less efficient organizations.
Food insecurity researcher Dr. Valerie Tarasuk from the University of Toronto notes this disparity in her PROOF research initiative. “The uneven nature of food bank operations means that geography often determines the quality of emergency food assistance,” she explained in a recent interview. “That’s troubling when we consider food access as a basic right.”
Census data shows food insecurity growing fastest in mid-sized communities where industrial downsizing has eroded middle-class stability. These same communities often have fewer resources to establish robust food bank governance.
The federal government has committed $260 million through the Local Food Infrastructure Fund since 2019, intended to strengthen food security initiatives. How effectively these funds translate to frontline services remains unclear without standardized impact measurements.
Provincial funding models add another layer of complexity. Quebec integrates food assistance with broader social services, while Alberta relies more heavily on corporate partnerships. These different approaches produce varied outcomes that resist simple comparison.
At Community Harvest Food Bank in Nepean, director Sarah Williams demonstrates how donated funds translate to support. “This $10,000 walk-in cooler came from a capital campaign last year,” she explains, showing me the unit now filled with fresh produce. “Before this, we couldn’t offer perishables consistently.”
Such tangible examples help donors understand their impact, but not all organizations communicate with this clarity. Some larger food banks maintain substantial reserves while smaller operations struggle week-to-week.
Financial transparency matters particularly during economic downturns when both need and generosity increase. During the pandemic, food bank donations reached record levels even as household budgets tightened. Donors making such sacrifices deserve to know their contributions are managed responsibly.
The solution isn’t necessarily government regulation, which could burden already stretched organizations. Instead, the sector itself could develop voluntary reporting standards that balance accountability with operational flexibility.
Food Banks Canada has taken steps in this direction, publishing impact reports that connect donations to outcomes. Yet these efforts stop short of creating uniform transparency expectations across their network.
The charity watchdog organization Charity Intelligence Canada rates major food banks on their financial transparency, but smaller operations often fall outside their assessment scope. Without comprehensive standards, donors must rely on incomplete information when making giving decisions.
This matters because food banks represent more than emergency assistance – they’ve become de facto policy instruments addressing gaps in our social safety net. As such, they warrant the same scrutiny we apply to government programs.
Canadians contribute generously, with over $40 million donated to Food Banks Canada alone in recent years. The majority comes from individual donors giving modest amounts from limited budgets. Their trust deserves protection through meaningful transparency.
For food banks to sustain public confidence while meeting growing need, the path forward seems clear: develop consistent reporting practices, communicate administrative costs honestly, and demonstrate the connection between donations and community impact.
Until then, potential donors might consider asking direct questions about how their local food bank manages resources. Most organizations welcome such engagement from community members who share their commitment to fighting hunger.
Food insecurity requires our collective response. Ensuring that response operates with maximum efficiency and transparency only strengthens our ability to help our neighbours in need.
