A food insecurity crisis is gripping Alberta. New data released by Statistics Canada in May show a staggering 1.46 million Albertans now live in food-insecure households – they don’t have enough income to put food on the table, every meal, every day. This means that nearly 2 in 5 kids in Alberta are growing up without reliable access to enough healthy food, up from 1 in 5 just a few years ago.
And, despite being one of the country’s wealthiest provinces, Alberta currently has the highest rate of severe food insecurity—meaning more people here are skipping meals, or going entire days without eating, than in any other of the 10 provinces.
“It’s an issue with far-reaching consequences, affecting neighbours, coworkers and classrooms across the province,” says Bobbi Turko, co-founder and executive director of the I Can for Kids Foundation (iCAN). “We see parents forced to choose between feeding their children and paying for rent, utilities, or medications. It’s devastating.”
See: Statistics Canada Table 13-10-0834-01 – Food insecurity by economic family type – Canada and Alberta breakdown.
Note: Data on food insecurity for CIS are collected in the year following the survey reference year. We have labelled the data using the year of data collection to better reflect the timing of experiences captured.
Food insecurity goes beyond hunger
As a society, our understanding of food insecurity is changing.
“We’ve moved beyond the idea that food insecurity is about food,” says Turko, “It’s about income. Families aren’t failing – our systems are.”
When iCAN first launched in 2015, food insecurity was still a largely misunderstood issue. Many Canadians equated it with hunger alone. But, as Turko explains, the problem runs deeper – into chronic stress, social isolation, and stigma.
Public awareness has grown, and food insecurity is now widely recognized as one of Canada’s most pressing socioeconomic issues.
Food insecurity doesn’t just harm individual households. It carries a steep social and economic price. Canadian research shows that children living with food insecurity are more likely to:
- Have impaired development and academic performance
- Experience social and mental health challenges
- Require more frequent hospital visits and emergency care
“We’re all affected when this many kids fall behind,” Turko says. “It weakens our communities, increases public health care costs, and has life-long impacts.”
Income-based supports are vital
As inflation, wage stagnation, and housing instability push more Albertans into food insecurity, iCAN is calling for a broader shift – recognizing income-based supports as a cornerstone of child well-being and community resilience.
That’s why they are leading a new response that’s backed by research. Instead of a traditional food program, iCAN provides a targeted income supplement. Through its grocery gift card program, iCAN is working to ensure that families facing financial hardship can access food with dignity and flexibility. That empowers families to plan, purchase and provide meals more reliably.
“This crisis is solvable,” Turko insists. “But we need to move away from outdated responses and invest in what truly works – it’s an income-based problem that requires an income-based solution.”
Whether through donations, advocacy, or simply spreading the word, iCAN believes every Albertan has a role to play in building a future where no child is left behind.
To learn more about iCAN’s approach or to get involved, visit www.icanforkids.ca.
References:
- New data on household food insecurity in 2024 (PROOF, 2025 May 5)
- Statistics Canada Canadian Income Survey (CIS)
- Statistics Canada CIS Data Tables (Data released 2025 May 1)
- Household food insecurity and health service use for mental and substance use disorders among children and adolescents in Ontario, Canada (CMAJ, 2023 July 24)
- The association between household food insecurity and healthcare costs among Canadian children (Canadian Journal of Public Health, 2023 August 23)
About I Can for Kids Foundation
I Can for Kids works closely with multiple agency partners to target and distribute grocery gift cards to food-insecure families in greatest need. The iCAN grocery gift card program is a more dignified and inclusive approach to dealing with food insecurity, allowing families to shop where everyone else shops and to choose foods that are appropriate for their health and cultural needs. Explore their website to discover more about iCAN’s impact over the years.
For more information and media inquiries, please contact iCAN Executive Director, Bobbi Turko at bobbi@icanforkids.ca.
