Finally Mark Carney delivers a breakthrough for Canadians asking for help. Will it be enough?
Posted on February 4, 2026 in Social Security Policy Context
Source: TheStar.com — Authors: Jasmine Ramze Rezaee
TheStar.com – Opinion/Contributors
Feb. 4, 2026. By Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, Contributor
The federal government recently announced the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB), an income support designed to help Canadians afford the basics of life. For millions of people struggling to put food on the table, this announcement will mean immediate relief.
For those of us who have spent years working to address food insecurity, it also marks a considerable policy win. It demonstrates that even in an era of fiscal austerity on the social front, governments can make targeted investments in meaningful social programs.
The CGEB will provide families of four with up to $1,890 this year and single individuals with up to $950, with benefits continuing at meaningful levels over the next four years. At a time when food prices and housing costs remain stubbornly high, this support — though not as robust as advocates had hoped — will make a difference in people’s daily lives.
The announcement is all the more remarkable because conventional wisdom by senior government officials and government relations experts was that a targeted benefit like this one, or new spending by this government, was unlikely. Those folks were wrong.
Collective advocacy, grounded in evidence and persistent public pressure, can translate smart ideas into action. And do so even quickly.
For years, advocates across the country — including at Right To Food and our many partners — have pressed for income-based solutions to food insecurity. Extensive research from PROOF at the University of Toronto has clearly demonstrated that when people have enough money, food insecurity declines. A Groceries and Essentials Benefit was proposed, with community input, by IRPP’s Affordability Action Council precisely because it treats hunger as a policy problem rather than a charitable one.
I wrote in the Toronto Star a little over a year ago about the benefit at a time when the idea felt politically unlikely. But we pressed on with it anyway because politics is more an art than a science. And because we knew the affordability challenges were not going anywhere — food security is the worst it has ever been.
At the same time, the CGEB must be understood for what it is and is not.
While meaningful, the benefit falls short of its full potential. Its five-year limit creates uncertainty about whether support will continue. Making the benefit permanent — and increasing its adequacy — would give households predictable, reliable support to meet basic needs.
This is particularly true in Northern and remote Indigenous communities where food prices far exceed the national average. Food insecurity in these communities is not only a matter of affordability; it is the result of generations of colonial policies that undermined land-based food systems and imposed economic marginalization. Addressing this requires long-term, Indigenous-led investments in harvesting, infrastructure, and Indigenous food systems, alongside predictable and adequate income supports.
Ultimately, Canada’s food insecurity crisis isn’t caused by a shortage of food; it’s caused by a lack of income. Until wages, income supports, and social protections align with the real cost of living, millions of people will continue to face impossible choices at the grocery store. Parallel investments in social programs, employment insurance reform, housing benefits and stronger labour standards are essential to tackling growing hunger and poverty in our country.
The CGEB offers hope — and serves as a clear reminder. The unaffordability crisis facing our nation, alongside rising and overlapping pressures that shape the bread-and-butter realities of people’s lives, cannot be ignored. Doing so carries political costs few governments are prepared to absorb. Therein lies our opportunity.
For Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver on his ambitious international agenda, he must also address the concerns of voters and taxpayers at home. Ensuring everyone can eat with dignity has to be central to that work. Last week’s announcement shows that political will can be mobilized even in a time of fiscal restraint. The task now is to build on this win and turn a promising development into lasting change.
Jasmine Ramze Rezaee is the director of policy and community action at Right To Food.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/finally-mark-carney-delivers-a-breakthrough-for-canadians-asking-for-help-will-it-be-enough/article_df6374b6-0201-4fdb-8626-ec04dc0c5436.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a04&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=0C810E7AE4E7C3CEB3816076F6F9881B&utm_campaign=pol_hl_30012
Tags: featured, ideology, philanthropy, poverty, standard of living
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