Thousands of foreign students and new grads in Canada are having difficulty acquiring essential food supplies after food banks implemented rules that limited access to only Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
According to a report by The Times of India, this decision comes amid a supply crisis affecting food banks nationwide, increasing the challenges of non-residents who rely significantly on such programs for survival.
Food banks across Canada have restricted services to citizens and permanent residents, leaving international students and recent graduates looking for alternatives to satisfy their basic nutritional needs.
For many international students, food banks were not simply a convenience, but an absolute necessity. Students claim food banks save them between CAD 300 and CAD 400 each month.
The new restrictions, secretly imposed by some food bank networks in recent weeks, have stunned the international student community in Canada.
Some providers' logic, that students from other countries must demonstrate financial self-sufficiency for their visas, has been met with frustration by students, who believe that paper-based declarations rarely represent reality when they arrive.
The situation illustrates bigger issues confronting international students in Canada, such as high tuition fees, restricted career possibilities, and escalating living expenditures.
As food banks adapt their policies due to resource restrictions, international students are left looking for alternate ways to meet their essential needs.
