Back-to-school programs see growing demand for school supplies as prices rise

Some British Columbia groups that help provide families with school supplies said they have seen an uptick in demand heading into this school year. 

More than 600 children and their parents attended a back-to-school event on Aug. 16 in Victoria, organized by non-profit The Mustard Seed. 

Claudia Rezende, director of development, said the kids received grade-appropriate school supplies, a new pair of running shoes, and some snacks to bring with them to school.

“Unfortunately this year we saw an increase in need,” said Rezende. She said when they opened registration for the program in May, all 600 spots were filled in two weeks and about 80 more children were placed on a waitlist.

She said an influx of community donations allowed them to provide supplies not only to all the children on the waitlist but also to families who reached out for support in the months since.

Rezende said parents have told her without the program, they would have had to choose between buying food or school supplies. 

She said the group is also seeing more need among double-income families.

“We have definitely heard from parents how hard it is now with the increase of rent, increase of groceries and all the expenses, how hard it is for them to afford to buy school supplies,” said Rezende.

She said the number of clients coming to the organization’s food bank has increased 24 per cent since last year, and one in every four clients is a child. 

Ron Rice, executive director of the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, said a back-to-school picnic on Aug. 23 was nearly at full capacity, with about 1800 people attending the lunch. 

He said in past years, the event would see maybe 150 registered students not show up to pick up their supplies, but Rice said that wasn’t the case this year. 

“It was down to the wire, we almost had full participation by everyone who registered,” he said. 

Rice said in some cases, organizers also had to change the type or quantity of supplies they provided this year, due to higher costs.

Debby Yung with The Salvation Army Boundless Vancouver said their back-to-school event on July 29th has nearly quadrupled over the past few years. The event handed out 188 backpacks filled with school supplies last year, and 213 this year. 

“The cost of school supplies has increased significantly this year especially for backpacks, posing a challenge for low-income families who attended our program,” said Yung in an emailed statement. 

She said this year’s program was managed within budget this year, but there were noticeably fewer unsolicited donations of supplies.

A recent Leger poll finds a majority of Canadian parents are grappling with higher costs for school supplies this year. 

The poll found nearly two-thirds of families with children in public schools are noticing higher costs. Six in ten parents said expenses have risen compared to last year. 

Leger said back-to-school spending is causing financial strain for families, with 63 per cent of respondents saying the expenses are having a significant impact on their household budget. 

Leger’s online poll was conducted with a little over 1,500 Canadians from its LEO panel.