The CNC foodbank has seen a notable increase in usage, as students struggle with rising costs.

By Tommy Osborne

Student Struggles

Student usage of food banks on the rise

Nov 13, 2025 | 4:58 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Food bank usage in Canada has hit all-time highs this year, and students have been feeling the pinch.

“There’s a huge increase in the amount of people and students getting access to the (College of New Caledonia Students’ Union) food bank. And this is something I’ve seen personally over the past year. For example, our food bank budget has tripled since 2023,” said CNC Students’ Union Office and Service Coordinator Kartik Verma.

Going from around $6000 in 2023 annual spending to $20,000 in 2025, Verma says students have really been struggling with cost increases across the board.

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“The rise in tuition fees, the inflation, and the price of housing. Prince George students have been struggling with the food prices as well, lots of students coming in asking if they can have two items per day, which is our current limit. We’re happy to make them a bag, which includes lots of items that would serve them for up to a week,” Verma says.

“It’s as simple as that. It’s just expensive to live,” added Roy Law, Community Ministries Director with the Prince George Salvation Army.

The CNC food bank is far from alone, as a Food Banks Canada report recorded all-time highs in March of 2025, which was consistent with high usage rates across the year. Locally, the Prince George Salvation Army also noted increased usage of its food bank.

“We are trending the same (as the report). We are keeping up with the trend though, and I don’t even want to use the word trend, it’s just something that’s happened. It’s happened since Covid and it’s been continuing to just stay steady and strong, and we haven’t been able to just reconfigure ourselves since Covid and get that back into alignment,” Law said.

Verma adds any student is welcome to its food bank, no questions asked, but notes it will be getting a new location beside the CNC bookstore in around one month, so if you’d like to access its services you can either go to the Students’ Union office, or the new location once it opens.

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