Statistics Canada recently released their 2025 food insecurity data. They report a decrease in food insecurity rates across nearly every province, with Newfoundland and Labrador experiencing its lowest rate since 2022.
Food insecurity exists when people struggle to afford the food they need and want. There are three categories of food insecurity: marginal, moderate, and severe. Refresh your memory on the differences in our food insecurity fact sheets.
In 2025*, 24% of people in the ten provinces lived in a food-insecure household in the past 12 months. That’s down from 25.7% of people in 2024.
Within that 24%,
5.6% experienced marginal food insecurity
11.9% experienced moderate food insecurity
6.5% experienced severe food insecurity.
Check out PROOF’s blog post, “New data on household food insecurity in 2025,” for a full summary of Canadian and cross-province data. PROOF also includes some territorial data, which continues to show alarming rates of food insecurity in the north.
Food Insecurity in Newfoundland and Labrador
For 2025, Statistics Canada reports that:
25.5% of people in Newfoundland and Labrador lived in a food-insecure household (a decrease from 30.6% in 2024).
That’s 137,000 people (roughly 25,000 less than the year before).
This is the lowest food insecurity rate since 2022, but still well above pre-pandemic levels.
The breakdown:
5.2% of people experienced marginal food insecurity (down from 6.2% in 2024).
12.9% of people experienced moderate food insecurity (down from 15.7% in 2024).
7.5% of people experienced severe food insecurity (down from 8.7% in 2024).
Childhood Food Insecurity
Following the general downward trend, the number of children experiencing food insecurity also decreased from 2024, but remains above the national average.
More than one-third (33.8%) of children lived in a food-insecure household (down from 41.1% in 2024)
That’s 29,200 children, 5,600 fewer than the previous year.
Single-parent families are much more likely to experience food insecurity
45.8% of single-parent families experienced food insecurity (down from 56% in 2024).
This is the highest rate of food insecurity of any household type
Other Notable Trends
12.9% of seniors (ages 65+) in N.L. experienced food insecurity, a solid drop from the spike in 2024
Food insecurity is racialized and disproportionately impacts visible minorities and Indigenous people. Statistics Canada has food insecurity data for both demographics in N.L. since 2022, and both show increasing rates every year. In 2025, roughly 40% of both visible minorities and Indigenous people reported experiencing food insecurity.
What These Numbers Tell Us
The 2025 Statistics Canada data marks the first decrease in food insecurity rates since 2022. While we can be cautiously optimistic about this, 25% of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are still experiencing food insecurity. That number is far too high.
It is also important to be aware that in a small province like ours, the margins for error on the data can be pretty big (though Statistics Canada doesn’t provide them for provincial data). It’s very possible that a lot of the swing we’ve seen between the 2023 numbers and the 2025 numbers comes from that rather than big shifts in food insecurity.
Our work isn’t done. It will take ongoing effort to continue lowering the number of people experiencing food insecurity. We need to continue focusing on policies and programs that increase incomes, especially for folks with the lowest incomes. Our 2026 provincial pre-budget submission and 2025 federal budget analysis contain ideas about how to do that.
We also need to address the systemic racism that is creating higher rates of food insecurity for visible minorities and Indigenous people. They’re the only demographics that saw an increase in food insecurity in 2025. That is completely unacceptable.
Lingering Questions
While the Statistics Canada data is incredibly important to how we gauge food insecurity in the province, it sparked some lingering questions.
How have things changed since early 2025?
The data above were collected in early 2025 and show an encouraging downward trend. But a lot has changed since then. First, the trade war with the United States. Now, a conflict in Iran and skyrocketing fuel prices.
We can expect that food insecurity rates have gone up again, along with the costs of living. In March, Bridges to Hope reported a 22% increase in visits to their food pantry compared to 2025. But we won’t know the complete picture until next year.
Why did food bank usage increase while moderate and severe food insecurity decreased?
Food Banks Canada’s annual HungerCount report summarizes data collected by food banks. In March 2025, they reported an 8.3% increase in food bank usage in Newfoundland and Labrador. This echoes what we’ve heard from food bank staff in the province.
The Statistics Canada data collected between January and July report an overall decrease in food insecurity across all categories. There is a curious disconnect between those trends.
We’re interested to see how this relationship changes over time and what that might tell us. For example, have food banks made it easier for people to access them? Is visiting a food bank less stigmatized now? We would love to learn that it’s easier and less stressful for people who need support to access it. We need effective short-term responses while we create long-term solutions.
Or are people experiencing severe food insecurity in greater need than before?
We hope to see both food insecurity rates and the need for food charity decline over time. If that doesn’t happen, then we need to figure out why.
What factors or policies contributed to the decrease in food insecurity?
Given that nearly every province saw food insecurity drop in 2025, there were clearly larger factors at play. Food price inflation slowed down, and household incomes increased (broadly speaking). We may also be seeing results from the provincial Poverty Reduction Plan measures announced in 2023 and implemented since. This may be the case, in particular, for the drop in childhood food insecurity following changes to the N.L. Child Benefit.
We can speculate about the various factors or policies that contributed to the overall decrease in food insecurity, but it’s difficult to know for sure without additional research and/or reporting. Setting and tracking food insecurity reduction targets could be one way of identifying and filling these data gaps.
Conclusions
This data reminds us that change is possible and food insecurity rates can decrease. Now is the time to deepen our commitment to reducing poverty and improving the well-being of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. With tenacity, we can continue to lower food insecurity rates and create a province where everyone can eat with joy and dignity.
*About the Data
Statistics Canada gathered this data through the Canadian Income Survey 2024 (CIS). Statistics Canada collected the survey data between January and July 2025 and asked participants about their experiences during the past 12 months. While the dataset has the 2024 label, it largely reflects people’s experiences in early 2025.
This data should not be compared to our previous posts about PROOF’s annual reports. PROOF’s annual reports presented estimates of food insecurity at the household level. The Statistics Canada information above reports food insecurity at the individual person level.
Our reporting has reflected the Statistics Canada data since 2025 (last year) and focuses on the person level.
Statistics Canada Data Tables
Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0834-01 Food insecurity by economic family type
Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0835-01 Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics
Written: May 8, 2026