Additional Information

Notes on outputs, outcomes, and targets:

¹Client and food bank use numbers are based on Link2Feed data from across the Food Banks Mississauga network, as well as a client survey administered by staff and volunteers. The 2024 client survey was conducted in multiple languages with 485 clients over two months.

²Visits refer to every visit a person makes to a food bank to use food bank services in the reporting period. For example, if one person visited the Food Banks Mississauga network five times in FY2023-24, it counts as five visits.

³Penetration rate is based on Statistics Canada 2016 and 2021 Mississauga census and population data. This data is updated every five (5) years, and does not include asylum seekers, a demographic our food banks support, or reflect current changes in how poverty is being defined and calculated. 

For instance, the 2016 and 2021 censuses measure poverty using a low-income measure, after tax (LIM-AT), which sits as 9.3% as of 2021. Earlier this year, Food Banks Canada introduced the Material Deprivation Index (MDI) – a poverty metric widely used in Europe to measure a poverty level standard of living. The MDI estimates that 25% of Canadians – almost 10 million people – are living in poverty because they cannot afford two or more household essentials to lead an adequate life. This equates to ~175,000 neighbours in Mississauga, much more than Statistics Canada has reported. Using this index, our penetration rate is closer to 32%. 

As changes in how poverty is defined and measured progresses, how we measure penetration rate is subject to change.

⁴Food Bank 2 Home continues to focus efforts to prioritize serving neighbours who have short- or long-term illnesses, physical disabilities, or face other barriers and households with the greatest need. Looking ahead, our goal is to continue working with community health organizations, senior service partners, and our neighbourhood food banks to enroll eligible neighbours in the program. 

⁵Pop-Up Food Bank (formerly Community Markets) returned for its third year in the Malton neighbourhood and launched in the Acorn Place community, in partnership with network agency member, Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP).