Going hungry on campus

In December 2024, the research firm Léger, published a report commissioned by the Quebec Student Union on food insecurity among post-secondary students. It found that 33 per cent of respondents reported some form of food insecurity over the previous year due to insufficient funds.  

Students from abroad, those living in urban areas, and those living alone or with roommates reported the highest rates of food insecurity. These students reported lacking money for a balanced meal, eating smaller portion sizes or skipping meals altogether, feeling worried about running out of food, and feeling hungry with no access to food. 

About one in four students experiences health consequences associated with food insecurity, both physically (including weight loss, poor concentration, and low energy) and mentally (including low self-esteem, anxiety, stress, and depression). Twenty-three percent (23%) of students said food insecurity interfered with their academic performance.  

An increasing need for food assistance 

Universities have had no choice in recent years but to redouble their efforts to help students experiencing food insecurity due to money troubles. According to the Leger survey, 17 per cent of students accessed on-campus food assistance over the previous year. 

“We improved our food assistance program after the pandemic,” said François Gélineau, vice-rector of international affairs and sustainable development at Université Laval (ULaval). “Maybe the need is higher than it used to be, or the pandemic has forced us to acknowledge the need and learn to address it. Either way, we’re paying close attention to student food insecurity.” 

ULaval is one of several Quebec universities to set up community fridges and pantries on campus, where university food services and members of the university community can donate edibles to people in need. “A student organization suggested it, and we thought it was such a good idea that we helped build out the initiative,” says Dr. Gélineau. A dozen community fridges can now be found across campus. 

Some institutions, including Concordia University and Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), offer students free or very low-cost meals prepared by volunteers. Others, including Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), École de technologie supérieure (ETS), and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), have set up food banks, often in partnership with a regional food aid service, that distribute food baskets each week. 

To help alleviate the financial precarity that can contribute to food insecurity, most universities have also created emergency funds offering students grocery or meal vouchers redeemable at on-campus food services. Some funds also provide direct financial assistance. At ULaval, for example, $1.2 million in financial support and $21,300 in grocery store gift cards were distributed to 527 students over the last school year. 

More than just money 

A study from the Observatoire sur la réussite en enseignement supérieur (Observatory on academic success—ORES) found that food insecurity can also stem from non-financial causes. Factors include difficulty balancing a budget and a lack of education on how to identify and prepare healthy, nutritious meals. 

Three years ago, McGill University decided to tackle these problems by overhauling the mandatory meal plan for students living in residence, among other initiatives. The declining balance system was replaced by an all-you-can-eat buffet. “Students now pay a certain amount in advance and no longer have to worry about balancing their food budget,” explains Mathieu Laperle, Senior Director of Student Housing and Hospitality Services at McGill. “They can eat whatever they want as often as they like throughout the day.” 

Mr. Laperle is also overseeing other initiatives at McGill, including creating a kitchen lab that anticipated to open next year. “Students will learn to cook and how to make informed grocery purchases, among other things,” he says. “Many students who come to university straight from the family home aren’t completely independent, so this fills an essential gap.” 

One project, countless outcomes 

One innovative way UQAC improved its food assistance services was by planting a food forest on university grounds in 2018. “The idea was to transform a field into a source of food and to study its social and ecological benefits,” says Jean-François Boucher, a professor in eco-advising with UQAC’s department of fundamental sciences. 

READ MORE: How healthy is university food in Canada? 

The forest now covers about 900 square metres and features more than 1,200 edible plants, including herbs, edible flowers, berry bushes, and fruit trees. “It may be a modest harvest, but the food forest still directly fights student food insecurity by providing them with fruits, vegetables, and herbs,” said Dr. Boucher. 

He stresses that the indirect effects of the food forest are even more important. “The forest enables us to educate students on the plants all around us that can be a source of food once we know how to forage and prepare it,” he says. The food forest’s plants have been labelled with educational tags featuring QR codes that give information on each plant’s species, care instructions, harvest instructions, and how it can be eaten. 

More support needed 

Despite these initiatives, more than half of the students surveyed said resources were inadequate to help students facing food insecurity. 

Universities have identified a number of challenges to providing those services, including insufficient grants and donations to cover demand, difficulty recruiting volunteers, and challenges in ensuring program sustainability. “We’re listening to students’ needs and adjusting accordingly,” says Dr. Gélineau. “We strive to do more and to do it better.”