By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

February 3, 2025

Over six hundred BGC Club locations across Canada serve nearly 150,000 children and youth. Each Club is being asked to do more to support young people, but they don’t always have the resources they need.

BGC Clubs support communities in key issue areas

During my time with BGC, I’ve had the opportunity to visit almost every one of our 85 BGC Clubs, and two truths stand out: Our Clubs are very dynamic, and they face challenges every day. Yet, repeatedly, Clubs rise above challenges to provide great service in their communities.

While the services provided at each Club look a little different, they all support key issue areas: before- and after-school care, youth employment, youth mental health, food insecurity, and learning, to name a few.

Those 85 BGC Clubs provide six hundred Club locations nationwide and serve 150,000 children and youth. With rising living costs, each Club is being asked to do more to support young people in their communities.

For example, we know that Canadians are facing food insecurity more than ever. From 2018 to 2022, food costs rose by 19.1%. Recent reports show that as of 2023, 1 in 4 Canadian children under 18 live in food-insecure households—that’s 2.8 million young people. Times like these are when BGC Clubs come in.

At BGC Canada, food support means more than just providing snacks

On top of providing nearly 7 million healthy meals and snacks every year, our food programs teach young people food literacy—where food comes from, how to prepare it, and how to make healthy choices. Without food literacy, food security is impossible.

When I visit a Club, food is the hub for everything: it’s the snack the kids gravitate to immediately when coming through the doors. It’s the smell of a hot dinner wafting through the halls for kids and families. And it’s making sure kids have the food they need for their family when they leave each night.

RELATED: BGC Clubs provide kids with basic needs so they can have brighter futures

Our Kid Food Nation and Kid Chef Nation programs were recently re-designed to help young people develop their food knowledge and cooking skills. This means that not only do they get healthy meals from their Club, but they also get skills that set them up for lifelong success.

Read more:

• BGC Clubs want the best for Canadian kids
• BGC Clubs are a modern solution to help parents
• BGC Clubs are a safe ‘third place’

By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

April 30, 2024

I noticed the massive line of cars trailing out of the Club’s driveway and onto the street—stretching through intersections for blocks—filled with families depending on the Club for food essentials.

For 125 years, BGC Clubs have served on the frontlines—providing necessities to young people in communities across the country—including mental health and food literacy programs.

Back in the fall of 2020 – as the COVID pandemic and related health measures took the greatest toll on job losses – I was driving by BGC East Scarborough on a Friday: food pick-up day. I noticed the massive line of cars trailing out of the Club’s driveway and onto the street—stretching through intersections for blocks—filled with families depending on the Club for food essentials.

I share this because today, the need for food hasn’t changed; in fact – it’s grown. In the fall of 2023, BGC Eastview (less than 20km from BGC East Scarborough) spoke to CityNews in response to a study on food insecurity’s impact on young people’s mental health.

“There is no mental wellness without making sure your tummy is full.”

– Laurette Jack, Program Coordinator at BGC Eastview

These are only two examples of BGC Clubs addressing these issues. Our Clubs have been—and continue to be—at the forefront of providing services to meet the needs of nearly 150,000 young people each year. When it comes to food security, its often a surprise for many to learn that we provide 6 million meals and snacks to kids across the country. But the need continues to rise: 1.8 million children across Canada are living in food-insecure households¹, and 1.2 million are affected by mental health².

I often describe a BGC Club by explaining the three p.m. stampede when they open their doors for after-school programming. The rising cost of living has made basic needs inaccessible to many children, youth and families. And many of them turn to BGC Clubs to provide them. Our 2023 Learning & Impact Report tells that the Club experience allows young people to envision a brighter future for themselves.

We need to continue these conversations for those kids and those who have yet to find our doors. Basic needs, brighter futures.

¹  https://proof.utoronto.ca/2023/new-data-on-household-food-insecurity-in-2022/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%2018.4%25%20of%20people,a%20period%20of%20unprecedented%20inflation.
²  https://ymhc.ngo/blogs/ymhc-blog/youth-mental-health-reality-the-difference-we-can-make

Read more:  

• What BGC Club Impact Looks Like
• Poverty in Canada: A Kid Made It
• After-School, Out-of-School

April 17, 2024

The federal budget tabled yesterday makes progress towards tackling youth mental health, employment, and poverty. As Canada’s largest dedicated child and youth serving charity, BGC Canada applauds these investments and looks forward to working with government to implement them.

BGC Canada is increasingly concerned by rising inequalities among youth. Our Clubs report increased demand for food supports, amid a cost-of-living crisis. We see increased mental health struggles from the youth we work with, amidst ongoing concerns about the impact of social media use on youth mental health. Latest data from Statistics Canada suggests that the youth employment rate has been dropping steadily, meaning that youth are not getting the first jobs they need to launch their careers.

“For this budget, we called for significant investments in children and youth,” says Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada. “Young people and their families continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, and this budget will help them get by while also creating national programs that will benefit generations to come. We are excited to partner with all levels of government to expand the Canada Wide Early Learning and Childcare system, implement a national school food program, and support youth mental health and employment.”

Highlights from Budget 2024 include:

• Renewed funding for youth employment and skills development, including through Canada Summer Jobs, the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, the Student Support for Learning Program, and CanCode 
• $500M for a new youth mental health fund 
• $52M in new funding to keep youth safe online
• $1B in funding for a national school food program 
• $15M for support community sport programming
• Significant funding for new childcare spaces, and for a workforce program for the sector

About BGC Canada 

For 125 years, BGC Canada has been creating opportunities for millions of Canadian kids and teens. As Canada’s largest child and youth serving charitable organization, our Clubs open their doors to young people and their families at more than 600 locations nationwide. During out-of-school hours in small and large cities, and rural and Indigenous communities, our trained staff and volunteers provide programs and services that help young people realize positive outcomes in self-expression, academics, healthy living, physical activity, job readiness, mental health, leadership, and more.