Food fridges at Granby CEGEP serve students facing food insecurity, Digi Mart USA News (Granby, Quebec): Every Tuesday, volunteers from SOS Dépannage – Moisson Granby fill the two food-aid fridges at the college. Nancy Tétreault, technician responsible for financial aid for studies and the emergency fund, says word spreads quickly once they arrive.
Vegetables, fruit, bread and dairy products disappear in a flash. The college also provides some dry goods and canned food through other partners.
Before the fridge is even full, a line forms, and each student may leave with three items.
Sometimes a second delivery takes place on Thursday when SOS Dépannage has surplus food. The same scene repeats, to the point that the college’s security guard must be present to prevent a few people from emptying the fridge.
The fridges were originally meant to reduce food waste, but their primary purpose is now food assistance. “Some skip meals outright for lack of money,” says Josée Bélanger, citing a study on the subject led by three college professors and dated 2025.
The “toast mornings” at Granby CEGEP draw many students every Monday. They help build community ties and give students something to eat before class.
Cédric Fortin, the only permanent employee of the college’s student association, says the fridges and toast mornings are becoming increasingly popular.
Food insecurity among adult students is increasingly documented, according to the director of student affairs, community services and the college foundation. About 40% of students said they had experienced food insecurity in the past year, according to results of a Léger survey commissioned by the Fédération étudiante collégiale du Québec and the Union étudiante du Québec, published in February 2025.
As part of the toast mornings, launched at the college two years ago, students can also get a breakfast of toast, peanut butter and fruit every Monday morning. “Several of them ask us for two extra toasts to get through the day,” Ms.
Tétreault explains in an on-site interview with La Voix de l’Est. “We’re glad to see the college takes this seriously, even if it is a band-aid on a deeper problem.”
The college foundation provides about $20,000 a year to students with financial difficulties in covering food costs. Last year, 105 people received a $200 prepaid card to spend at a supermarket known for low prices.
“Nancy’s pantry” holds a wide range of items, from food and toothbrushes to feminine hygiene products and snacks.
The institution has no intention of replacing aid organizations. “The college will not become a second SOS Dépannage,” Ms.
Bélanger says. Seventy percent of the aid goes to international students, whose tuition, between $7,000 and $11,000 per semester, is particularly high.
“Sometimes they live seven to a four-and-a-half-room apartment to make it work,” says the emergency fund manager.
Financial hardship is also the reason for a strike call among the student population, launched by the Coalition de résistance pour l’unité étudiante (CRUES), which several Quebec institutions are following this week. CRUES is calling for reform of student financial aid to, among other things, increase the amount offered and ease eligibility conditions, including access for international students and more part-time students, according to a recent report in Le Devoir.
Granby CEGEP is not participating. Seven CEGEPs, including those in Drummondville, Saint-Jérôme and Sherbrooke, according to the Montreal daily, have responded to the CRUES call.
“We are watching closely what is happening, but for now we don’t sense much enthusiasm among our members,” says Cédric Fortin, administrative staff member of the Granby CEGEP student association, in an interview on Monday.
