Greater Vancouver Food Bank won’t serve first year international students
While international students deal with rising living costs and food insecurity, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank's policy restricts their access to aid for an entire year
By KORALEE NICKARZ
A Greater Vancouver Food Bank policy prevents international students experiencing food insecurity during their first year in Canada from receiving free food while they adjust to an unfamiliar country and community.
Emma Nelson, communications manager at the GVFB, said in an email the policy exists because the federal government requires international students to have “substantial savings” before coming to Canada.
Federal rules require international students to have $20,635 saved up, in addition to tuition and travel costs, in order to come to study in Canada.
“After a year, these savings will likely have been used up, and food insecurity is a genuine possibility,” Nelson said.
Harsh measures
Baljit Kamoh, the Vancouver regional director for the non-profit Khalsa Aid Canada, disagreed. She said international students need the most support when they first arrive in the country.
“A lot of them don’t know the high cost of living on top of their international tuition fees, which is typically three to four times that of a citizen student,” she said.
Khalsa Aid’s Metro Vancouver team provides anywhere from 200 to 300 food packs to international students per month in Surrey, B.C., and the demand for the packs goes up at the beginning of each term, according to Kamoh. She speculates that the increase is because students arriving to begin studies are unaware of services they can access.
“After a year, students tend to feel more stable in the community that they’re in,” she said, adding that she doesn’t see a lot of international students using the GVFB in their second year of study.
According to their website, in 2022, post-secondary students overall made up 24 per cent of new GVFB registrants in the previous year and they expected that number to increase.
Dan Huang-Taylor, executive director of Food Banks BC, said that the proportion of B.C. post-secondary students visiting food banks more than doubled from 2019 to 2023.
Students need assistance
Vancouver Coun. Adriane Carr called the GVFB’s policy “tragic” and added, “it’s really important that the students who come here to gain an education don’t starve as they do it.” She said she does not want to be critical of the role the GVFB plays in helping those in need, but that they should reconsider their international student policy.
Food Banks Canada’s Ethical Food Banking Code states that affiliate food banks should provide services in a non-discriminatory way, “regardless of race, national or ethnic origin,[or] citizenship.”
The Langara Voice reached out to Food Banks Canada for comment on the GVFB policy but did not receive a response.
Carr, who identifies as a GVFB donor, said, “I think more and more people are generously donating and I would want to see these students helped.”
The Langara College financial aid department in collaboration with Langara Global provides emergency funds to students suffering from food insecurity with no application required. The program provides a $200 grocery gift card to any Langara student going through food insecurity and students are eligible to receive one card per term.
Anna Beck, associate registrar at financial aid and information services, said, “International students are the ones that need our support now more than ever.”
According to her, since the start of this year only 143 students have accessed the gift card. The Community Cupboard program which was replaced by the grocery cards, saw 3400 visits from students in 2022.
Citing the cost of food, Carr, also a former Langara College instructor, called the $200 grocery card completely inadequate.
“How can one learn if one is hungry,” Carr said.
Clarification Oct 23, 2024: This story has been updated to clarify that federal immigration rules stipulate the amount of money international students must have in order to qualify to study in Canada.
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