Food Bank Client and Usage Data

This is the administrative data from a food bank hub in a metropolitan area in Ontario, that supports a network of the ten major food banks. It covers April 1 2014 through December 2020, and contains an observation for each food bank visit during that period with the following exceptions.  Some food banks started tracking user information after April 1 2014.  Other food banks have opened, closed, relocated, or changed their target audience (e.g. only youth or only seniors) during this period. Some organizations have “food pantries” which provide a small amount of food to act as emergency supplies for people in urgent need. The major food banks operate on a much larger scale, typically serving over 200 households with a bigger variety of food designed to meet nutritional needs.  This data contains all information about food bank users over this period.

The data covers the following broad areas:

Food bank visited and data of visit

Access to special food bank programs e.g. Christmas gift program

Family characteristics such as number and type of household head(s), children, extended families, economic households composed of unrelated individuals

Income sources and amount by various types e.g. ODSP, WI, wage income etc.

Household spending e.g. rent, utilities, food etc.

Socio-economic characteristics of all individuals within the household group e.g. immigration status, marital status, gender, age, housing type, disability etc.

The data may be matched to DA level census profile data.

Sample information is not provided in this document given the confidential nature of this information and existing data sharing agreements.  Contact the SEAL Lab to discuss data queries.  We have a confidential and public-use data dictionary.