The demand for changes for supporting the unemployed are mounting as Canada's jobless numbers for January were more than three times what many economists had predicted.
In B.C., 36,000 people were out of work last month. One of them is Lynda West.
The 60-year-old from Kelowna is looking for work is what's become a more competitive and shrinking job market. She's been forced to rely on the local food bank, something that has given her a whole new appreciation for bread.
"For breakfast I'll maybe have two slices of toast," she says. "For lunch I'll have maybe two and at dinner time if I'm really hungry I'll have maybe four. Sometimes I can afford to put margarine on it."
But sometimes she can't. The unemployed former administrator has had to go without some of her daily prescription medications because isn't getting enough employment insurance to cover the bills.
And she's not alone. West was among 780 Kelowna workers to lose their jobs after two call centres closed down. Her job searching has turned-up nothing.
"At my age of 60 I'm definitely not in the position I thought I'd be in," she says.
West is one of 895 new clients at the Kelowna Food Bank, where the most startling change is the number of people coming in with what they call a food emergency.
"We used to distribute about three or four emergency hampers on a monthly basis, last month we distributed 66 of them," says Lenetta Thordarson.
And it's when times get tough that donations at the food bank tend to tail-off. And even in a city that has been pretty resistant to economic downturns its showing.
A few months ago there were help wanted signs all over the city of Kelowna. Nowadays, many of the businesses are shutting down because of the economic turndown.
So while the number of people looking for jobs is up, windows of opportunity are diminishing, along with Lynda West's hopes.
"A lady who I know has offered to get me a shopping cart," she says.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
