Entrepreneur-philanthropist Jim Balsillie has donated to food banks in his hometown for years – anonymously. But food insecurity is only getting worse, and he’s hoping his family foundation’s new $4.5-million pledge not only helps put food on people’s tables but prompts others to consider donating too.
“This is really, hopefully, something that puts it in the consciousness of people, that this is worthy of part of their philanthropic thinking,” he said of the donation to four Waterloo-Wellington food banks, announced today.
Kim Wilhelm, CEO of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, said the donation’s impact can be illustrated in a basic grocery item many families now struggle to afford: a loaf of bread. At $4 a loaf, $3 million could buy bread for 15,000 households every week for 50 weeks.
“People are struggling to purchase that $4 loaf of bread,” Wilhelm told the Post. “We have the ability through this donation and through other community support to make sure that they have a basic need. I’m struggling with the fact that people can’t afford that basic human right.”
The comparison helps convey both the practical reach of the Balsillie Family Foundation’s donation and the reality behind it: many families find it a challenge to afford even that modest staple, she said.
The money arrives as demand continues to swell across the region. In Waterloo Region, food-hamper program visits reached nearly 622,000 between July 2024 and June 2025—an 11 per cent increase from the previous year, and a 205 per cent increase since 2019. One in four households in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph experienced food insecurity in 2024, an increase of nearly 13 per cent since 2019.
The foundation’s donation will be shared amongst the Cambridge Food Bank, Centre Wellington Food Bank, Guelph Food Bank and The Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Together, the organizations support about 80,000 adults and children facing food insecurity.
The donation is intended to give the organizations room to plan beyond the day-to-day pressure of meeting demand, Wilhelm said. Needs differ between communities: more warehouse and distribution space, transportation, food-processing capacity, and programs that bring fresh food and nutrition support directly to families.
Balsillie, the former Research In Motion co-CEO and current chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators, said he is drawn to what he sees as food banks’ ability to meet a basic need “efficiently and with dignity.” The rapid growth in food insecurity persuaded him to return with a new donation.
That growing need extends well beyond people traditionally associated with poverty. “These are your neighbours,” he said of those who rely on food banks. “They’re single moms, they’re two-income families. It’s more mainstream as an issue, and essential social service.”
Across Ontario, one in four food-bank visitors was employed in 2024-25, according to Feed Ontario data. One in nine food-assistance participants in Waterloo Region reported having a job in 2025.
There is a widening gap between what food costs, and what many households have left after rent, utilities, medication and transportation.
“Food insecurity is not a food problem,” Wilhelm insisted. “It’s not a lack of food. It’s an income problem.”
Food banks can help people through a crisis, she said, but “cannot eliminate food insecurity by themselves.”
“No one should have to choose between buying medication and buying food, giving food to their children or eating themselves, or paying for a car repair that’s going to get them to and from their job,” said Wilhelm.
More than 26,000 children receiving food assistance in Waterloo Region live in food-insecure households, accounting for 36 per cent of participants. In Guelph, more than 3,100 children receiving assistance are food insecure.
Ontario food banks, meanwhile, recorded 8.7 million visits in 2024–2025, a 13 per cent increase over the previous year and a 165 per cent increase since 2019–2020. Food bank use in Canada has doubled since 2019, according to informational handouts.
Wilhelm said food banks work constantly with farmers, manufacturers and corporations to obtain surplus food and prevent waste. But collecting and distributing that food requires vehicles, storage and staff. The Food Bank of Waterloo Region has 10 trucks on the road each day, she said, though their capacity is often strained by deliveries to partner agencies.
Balsillie said he hopes the donation helps the four organizations meet current demand, while prompting others with means to consider food security part of their own charitable giving.
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