A stack of Canadian pennies on a desk, with an orange background.
Food, Food Security

The Face of Poverty on Cortes Island

In 2015, the year Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister of Canada, more than 5 million Canadians were living in poverty. This number came down every year until 2020, when Canada reached its goal of cutting the number of people living below the poverty line by 50%. However, a new report from the Auditor General of Canada states this was ‘mainly due to the emergency benefits the government temporarily provided because of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ Thanks to inflation and the phasing out of these benefits, close to 4 million Canadians were once again living in poverty by 2023. According to the 2025 Hunger Count, put out by Food Banks Canada, the situation has deteriorated since then. In today’s story, Angelica Raaen from the Cortes Food Bank described what poverty looks like on a remote island.  

Screenshot from 2025 Hunger Count

“ I’ve made some bullet points of the big things, housing being a huge thing that ends up affecting people’s income and quality of life. The first thing is access to land because land costs are so expensive nowadays; it’s harder for people to establish a long term garden. That’s something that people used to do on the island a lot, a big part of living here was self-sustenance but that becomes hard for people when the land prices are so high. In the last 10 years or so, rent has gone up – driven by prices elsewhere in the province.”

“I’ve heard people talking a lot about market rent when pricing their rentals, but it doesn’t seem like it should be compared to other places in BC because things are so different here. I was talking to a friend of mine, and they were saying you could rent a cabin for $250 a month a few years ago, and now it’s $800 to $1,000 for the same places. There are cases where folks, often seniors, may own a home but can’t afford to pay the taxes on it or maintain it. There are folks in precarious housing situations like boats or trailers where they don’t have access to food storage or water, etc. There’s also those seasonal rentals where people can rent a place in the winter, but then have to move out in the summertime when the owners return. So that makes it really hard to establish a garden or start to store food grown in the garden.”

“A large part of people’s income ends up going towards rent. One statistic on the Hunger Count Canada website stated that 70% of food bank clients live in market-rent housing. One in five are employed. So they’re probably earning minimum wage and living in market-rent housing, but it’s not affordable or sustainable. Then there’s the rising food costs. Many people are going off the island to shop for bulk food at places like Costco and Superstore, but then not everyone has access to a vehicle. Also the travel costs of a trip like that can be quite expensive. Food prices on the island are quite high due to many factors, but we’re hearing that a lot of people are having trouble buying food. Then there’s the employment aspect: seasonal and unreliable employment. A lot of folks work in the summer and then are laid off in the winter, and the wages that they make during the summer aren’t enough to carry them through. Many seniors and individuals with disabilities, rely on fixed incomes which aren’t high enough to afford the rent and food costs on the island.”

Cortes Currents: What does that mean to the food bank? 

Angelica Raaen:  “We’re definitely seeing many more clients than usual using the food bank. We’re expanding our services so we can provide better access, but we’re having to rise to meet the needs that are being presented.”

“It doesn’t seem like things are getting any better, and people’s needs aren’t being met. More people are continuing to need support. It’s more important than ever that we take food security into our own hands, especially in rural places.” 

“A lot of people I know do not have affordable rent or are in suboptimal situations and the idea of buying or owning property feels unattainable for most of my peers. So there’s that feeling of insecurity long term that I think looms over a lot of folks.”

“Farmers on the island aren’t able to make a living wage and locals aren’t able to buy the food that they produce. It feels so wrong to me; farmers need to charge tourist prices to make anything from their produce, which doesn’t allow locals with a lower income to purchase the food grown here on the island.”

Cortes Island’s 2021 census states that 25% of the residents had ‘low incomes’ and 87% were spending more than they could afford (+30%) on rent or mortgage payments.

An Angus Reid Study suggested some indicators of whether a household is living in poverty are:

  • Late rent or mortgage payments
  • Being unable to pay a utility bill.
  • Having to borrow money for essentials like groceries or transportation.
  • Having to use a food bank.
  • Being unable to afford good quality groceries.
  • Being unable to afford new clothing.
  • Living in a place that is too small or too far away from work or otherwise doesn’t meet one’s needs.
  • Inability to afford dental care.
  • Using a ‘pay day loan.’
  • Having to forgo relative luxuries like movies (or sports activities). 
  • Being unable to dine out on special occasions.

Kirstin Beardsley, CEO of Food Banks Canada, said, “Newly introduced programs – including ambitious poverty-reduction strategies, affordable housing pilots and new social programs like the Canadian Dental Care Plan and the National School Food Program – are showing early promise for greater adoption and expansion. Food Banks Canada’s analysis shows that with bold collective action from all governments, we can make real and lasting change. It is possible to reduce food insecurity in Canada by 50% by 2030.”

Links of Interest:

Top image credit: Stack of Canadian pennies – Photo by Kim Siever via Flickr (Public Domain)

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