New guide helps Gatineau seniors eat well on a tight budget

Tashi Farmilo

A food guide for seniors, released in August by the Outaouais roundtable on hunger and social development (TCFDSO), offers practical advice to older Gatineau residents on eating well with limited money. It also shows where to find food help in Aylmer, Hull, Gatineau and Buckingham at a time when more people in the region are turning to food aid.

The increase has been significant. The 51 community groups supplied by the regional food bank Moisson Outaouais handled 94,036 requests for help in March 2025, almost half again as many as four years earlier. Across Quebec, the Observatoire québécois des inégalités found that the share of residents who could not reliably afford food nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023, rising from about one in nine to one in five.

Seniors on fixed incomes have less room to absorb those costs. The provincial seniors' group FADOQ has estimated that a senior whose only income is Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement receives roughly $21,500 a year, which is below Canada's official poverty line. Quebec food bank data from March 2025 shows that about one in 12 households receiving food hampers depended mainly on an old age pension. The guide also points to physical barriers, noting that chronic illness and limited mobility can make shopping or getting to a food bank difficult, especially for people who rely on buses.

The 30-page guide is written in French and was produced with a dozen partners, including Santé Québec Outaouais, the City of Gatineau and TCARO, the regional roundtable for seniors and retirees. Its Creative Commons licence allows community groups to reproduce and adapt it for non-commercial use.

The nutrition section explains how the body's needs change with age. Older muscles use dietary protein less efficiently, so seniors need more of it, and the guide suggests low-cost sources such as eggs, canned tuna, extra-firm tofu, Greek yogourt, red lentils and chickpeas. It also covers calcium and vitamin D for bone health, vitamin B12 and fibre. On salt, it points out that a single teaspoon has more than one and a half times the daily sodium intake it recommends. Because thirst tends to weaken with age, it advises seniors to drink regularly throughout the day instead of waiting until they feel thirsty. The guide stresses that its advice is general and does not replace guidance from a doctor or dietitian.

For people who have lost their appetite, the guide's main concern is that they keep eating. It says eating the same few favourite foods repeatedly is better than skipping meals. It also recommends eating with others when possible and carrying snacks on days spent away from home.

The shopping advice includes a change many local readers will recognize. Grocery flyers no longer come in the Publisac, which the guide says has been replaced by a slimmer weekly mailer called Raddar. Full flyers are still available at store entrances or online by postal code. The guide cautions that advertised deals do not always save money. Multi-buy offers can lead to waste if the extra food spoils, and deep markdowns usually mean a product is close to its expiry date. It encourages shoppers to compare brands and package sizes rather than assume higher prices mean better food. It also notes that since July 15, Quebec no longer charges provincial sales tax on certain items such as cut fruit and vegetable platters and trail mixes, although the federal GST still applies.

For seniors who cannot easily get to a store, the guide compares the grocery delivery plans offered by the major chains and notes that prices change often. It also lists a meal delivery service for each part of the city. In the Gatineau and Hull sectors, the local volunteer action centres, the Centre d'action bénévole de Gatineau and the Centre d'action bénévole de Hull, deliver prepared meals mainly to older residents, as well as to people with reduced autonomy and caregivers who need a break. Meals on Wheels serves Aylmer residents who are ill, recovering from illness or finding it hard to cook for themselves. In Buckingham, the Centre Action Générations des Aînés runs Bouf'Mobile for older adults who need help with meals. Because eligibility rules and fees can change, the guide recommends contacting each service directly before signing up.

The guide also lists one food bank in each sector: Centre alimentaire Aylmer, La BASE in Hull, the Centre en sécurité alimentaire de Gatineau and the Banque alimentaire de la Lièvre in Buckingham. It includes soup kitchens in Hull, Vieux-Gatineau and Buckingham that serve hot meals for free or at low cost. It describes collective kitchens, where small groups shop and cook together and take home portions, and refers gardeners to the city's online map of community garden plots.

Other services in the guide include Transport solidaire, which provides rides by referral to independent seniors for medical appointments and grocery shopping, and SécuriCAB, a free automated calling service that checks on seniors and contacts a relative or emergency services if calls go unanswered. English-speaking seniors, a large group in Aylmer, are directed to the Connexions Resource Centre, which helps anglophones in the region access health and social services and offers free activities for seniors.

A print version of the guide can be downloaded at https://tcfdso.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/guide-alimentaires-aines-2026-120826.pdf.