Second Harvest is Canada’s largest food rescue organization and a global thought leader on food waste and perishable food redistribution. It rescues unsold surplus food from thousands of food businesses from across the supply chain to redistribute it to non-profits in every province and territory. This prevents harmful greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere while improving access to nutrition for millions of Canadians experiencing food insecurity. Beyond food rescue and redistribution, Second Harvest is deeply involved in advocacy, research, training and education. Its groundbreaking reports, such as “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste,” provide critical data and insights to inform public policy and educate the public on sustainable food systems.

Our mission is to keep food where it belongs: on plates and out of landfills.

Our vision is No Waste. No Hunger. 

Second Harvest is committed to driving systemic change, helping to shape policies and practices that reduce food waste and address its role in climate change, while also supporting communities by providing them with the food they need.

Second Harvest supports over 10,800 programs across 5,000 non-profits, including food banks, breakfast and after-school programs for children and youth, drop-in centres serving people experiencing homelessness, settlement centres assisting refugees and newcomers, and more.

In 2025, Second Harvest rescued and redistributed 95.3 million pounds of food, supporting 6.8 million people in over 900 communities across Canada. It diverted 309 million pounds of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere and prevented 65 billion litres of water from going to waste. 

We’re proud to rescue food from coast to coast to coast, as we work towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 2 Zero Hunger: Feeding people across our country, we’re creating change by building more equitable food systems.

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production: By offering an avenue for food rescue, we’re encouraging businesses to waste less and develop responsible food supply chains.

SDG 13 Climate Action: By getting surplus food to people, we reduce greenhouse gases created when food goes to landfill.