Every year before the holidays, members of the community are invited to come to Trinity Anglican Church in downtown Galt to sit and enjoy a free holiday lunch.
But to the surprise of none of the volunteers this year, nearly 70 per cent of the guests coming to eat earlier today were international students from local colleges.
"I mean we see this almost every day, so it's not new to us, but this should not be happening," said volunteer Cheryl MacInnes. "It's our mission to feed everyone who is in need and we are going to continue feeding these students if they need it."
Trinity Community Table (TCT) is a food kitchen that operates out of the church and has been serving the community for decades. Over the past two years, the number of international students they've been feeding has grown exponentially.
According to program coordinator at the church, Bonny Jensen, they have given out around 200 meals with close to 70 per cent going to students.
A Conestoga College student, named Arjun told CambridgeToday that he has been going to TCT to eat because he is having a hard time supplying food for himself.
"Here I come and eat and not worry about it. They also give you some to take home which really helps," said Arjun.
The Conestoga student has been in Canada for just over a year and a half and has been finding it increasingly difficult to afford food, especially since he's only working part-time hours.
He has gone to the food bank provided by the college, but points out issues with the service.
He notes that the items they receive are usually not enough to make last and he can only access the service once a month.
"I might be able to get three days of food, so places like the church really help," he said.
Cambridge MP Bryan May was at TCT cleaning dishes and helping hand out food today and said he was shocked to see the overwhelming number of students at this year's event.
"I've been helping here for years and I'll tell you, when I looked up and saw how many young students were here; I've never seen it like this," said May.
The Cambridge MP said that the colleges and their presidents need to see this and really understand the gravity of the situation their students are facing.
Cambridge city councillor Sheri Roberts also had the opportunity to sit and chat with some of these students to get a better understanding of the issues they're facing.
"We spoke about why they're having to eat here, their living situations and to be honest, it's really unfortunate that they are having to access services like these," said Roberts. "It's sad to see that these students come here and they end up not being able to afford to feed themselves."
Roberts notes that these situations are only going to get worse as the cost of living increases, putting more financial pressure on these students.
"Some of these students are working full-time and part-time jobs while going to school full-time. It's not sustainable," she added.
According to May, the food insecurity international students are facing is a direct reason for changes the federal government will begin requiring next year to ensure students have more money in their bank accounts.
"No one should be coming to Canada to study and have to end up using the food bank," said May. "Hopefully these changes will help protect these students and reflect the actual cost of living in this country."
MacInnes adds that they will never turn away a student from eating a hot meal at TCT and there is always a home for them at the church.
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