Daily Bread CEO deputes at House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance

On May 28, Daily Bread Food Bank was invited to speak at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance as part of the pre-budget consultations for the 2026 federal budget. 

Our CEO, Neil Hetherington, spoke about Canada’s growing food insecurity crisis, its root causes, and Daily Bread’s policy recommendations for the 2026 budget. With almost one in four Canadians struggling to afford food, and over one in ten Torontonians relying on food banks to get by, Daily Bread Food Bank is calling for urgent and sustainable supports that address the key drivers of hunger and poverty in Canada.

Our key policy recommendations are: 

1. A tax credit for low-income renters to provide immediate support to people struggling now. 

2. Further accessibility reforms to the Disability Tax Credit, which has become a key gateway for people to access federal disability supports. 

3. Expanding automatic tax filing to ensure people with low incomes can access all the federal benefits to which they are entitled. 

4. A Federal Food Donation Tax Credit for farmers and food producers who donate food to community programs, to help meet the immediate need. 

5. Reforming Employment Insurance to bring it up to speed with today’s labour market realities, including the prevalence of part-time, gig, and contract work. 

Read our full pre-budget submission here and see Neil Hetherington’s full opening statement to the Committee below. 

As the federal government finalizes the 2026 budget, Daily Bread Food Bank will continue advocating for sustainable, human-rights based policy changes that address the root causes of poverty and hunger.