Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash (illustrative)
In the fiscal year that ended on 31 August 2025, Second Harvest, Canada's largest food rescue organization, rescued and redistributed 95.3 million pounds of surplus food that would otherwise have gone to waste, according to its 2025 annual report. The food came from more than 7,500 donors, including producers, manufacturers and retailers, and went to non-profit programs across the country.
Key facts
The 95.3 million pounds rescued compare with 87.1 million pounds the year before, an increase of about 9%.
Both years beat the charity's three-year target of 72 million pounds by 2025.
The food supported more than 10,800 non-profit programs and reached 6.8 million people in Canada.
Second Harvest estimates the rescued food prevented about 309 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and saved over 65 billion liters of water.
Why it matters
Wasted food creates greenhouse gases and squanders the water and energy used to grow it, while many people struggle to afford groceries. Keeping good food on plates and out of landfills tackles both problems at once.
Worth noting
The charity's own updated research found that while total food waste in Canada has fallen by 20% since its 2019 study, avoidable food waste, meaning edible food, has risen by 6.5%. Emissions and water figures are the charity's estimates.