[URBAN NOTE] "Influx of Syrian refugees helps drive rise in use of food banks"

[rfmcdonald]

The Globe and Mail's Tavia Grant shares some sad, if unsurprising, news about Syrian refugee poverty in Toronto.

Toronto’s food banks are seeing more people come through their doors, among them, an influx of Syrian refugees who are struggling with the city’s high cost of living.

The number of people accessing the city’s food banks rose 1 per cent this year, to 905,970, from last year and is still 13 per cent higher than 2008 levels, an annual count to be released Monday shows. The increase was partly driven by hundreds of newcomers from Syria who, having fled the five-year-old civil war, are now grappling with high rental costs and limited incomes.

Demand had been stable, but the sudden increase in the first three months of the year was the most rapid since the 2008 recession, noted the Daily Bread Food Bank report. “This most recent spike is the result of a combination of stagnant incomes, rapidly rising food and housing costs and an influx of newcomers, including Syrian refugees, making the difficult transition to a new country with little income.”

Canada has admitted 30,647 Syrian newcomers since last November as both government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees, with thousands more due to arrive this year. More than 12,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict have settled in Ontario since November.

Christine Markwell, who co-ordinates the Agincourt Community Services food bank, saw a “huge increase” in demand from Syrian families this year, and cites rental costs as a major factor. She has adjusted services as a result, now offering a drop-in on Tuesday afternoons especially for Syrian families, and recruiting more Arabic-speaking volunteers.