Newcomers forced to use food banks

Extract: MISSISSAUGA, September 21, 2012, Can-India New The number of university graduates and middle-aged recent immigrants, many who happen to be South Asians, now make up a significant and growing segment of food bank users. The report released this week titled, “Who’s Hungry: Faces of Hunger”, points to an ever-growing number of visits between April 2011 and March 2012. According to Meghan Nicholls, Marketing and Fund developer at the Mississauga Food Bank, “Up to a third of the 65,000 people served by the food bank is made up of people new to Canada. Many of them are not unemployed but do not have enough money left over for groceries.” “We have a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that in the Peel region in particular, new immigrants are hit really hard. Many of these immigrants have part-time jobs as they are studying or aren’t able to find a job in their field and if they earn say $1300 a month, the average place rents at close to a $1000, forcing them to use our food bank,” she adds. continue reading