Regina Food Bank expects to feed at least 15,000 in December

With inflationary pressures prevalent this holiday season, the Regina Food Bank expects to feed at least 15,000 people in December alone.

The rising clientele has been a normal thing for the food bank for a couple of years now and may very well continue well into 2024 with food prices expected to rise again in the new year.

A new report is predicting food prices in Canada will have an average inflation rate increase between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent. However, if the prediction holds true, that rise would be at a slower rate than in 2023 where prices have risen between five and seven per cent.

The report was conducted by more than 30 experts from the universities of Saskatchewan, Guelph, British Columbia and Dalhousie University.

• Here's how much more it's expected to cost to feed a family of 4 in Canada next year

Rising clientele or not, once again this year the Regina Food bank is also preparing to hand out 2,500 Christmas food hampers.

“Every one of those 2,500 Christmas food hampers will have a ham or a turkey and all the goods to make sure a traditional Christmas meal is on a family’s table,” Regina Food Bank vice president David Froh said.

According to Froh, the fastest-growing demographic of food bank users are people who are working two or three jobs.

“Hunger doesn’t discriminate and we know food is expensive but we’re proud as a food bank to get food to folks when they need it,” he said.

• Download the CTV News app to get Regina related breakng news alerts on your device

Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University Sylvain Charlebois said by mid-2024, margins are expected to become tighter.

“Things will get really interesting probably mid-year when margins will become tighter while grocers ought to be fighting for our business,” Charlebois said.

-- With files from Natasha O’Neill and Donovan Maess.