A variety of food options will now be available every Monday evening at Vancouver Island University, with the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank adding a free food market to campus. (Image Credit: Loaves and Fishes)

By Alex Rawnsley

community food security

Free food market opening at Nanaimo’s VIU campus

Aug 21, 2026 | 12:09 PM

NANAIMO — Increased food access for students and across the city’s south end is behind a new food bank partnership.

Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank and Vancouver Island University have agreed to host a weekly free food market, beginning Monday Aug. 24, at the university’s Trades Discovery Centre (Building 108) on Fifth St.

Every week from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., those in the area, along with students, will be able to access a wide range of free food to ensure they have enough through the week.

“They are set up as markets where people get to choose the food that they go home with. They check in…and they get a token that has the number of people in their household. As they go through each one of the stations, they’ll get a certain number of choices based on the number of people in their household.”

The market is the 12th one of its kind run through the community, and joins others in the south end, including at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, the Salvation Army Church on Bruce Ave., and the Nanaimo Native Victory Chapel on Irwin St.

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Sinclair said the opportunity with VIU addresses a need.

“When we look at the south end of Nanaimo and particularly the student population, we realized we could really use another location for people to pick food up, and so working with VIU, we were able to come to a situation where we can have a free food market there on campus that’ll be available not only to students of VIU but also to the general public.”

Sinclair added the experience and selection at each marked is consistent, enabling all those served by the organization to find what they want.

“We’re all experiencing increased food prices, and students, there many of them are on fixed budgets, and so as food prices go up, there’s just less money available to get food. We are seeing students needing to use the food bank, and so we’re wanting to make it as accessible as possible for them.”

Work continues for Loaves and Fishes to fully move into its new East Wellington Rd. distribution centre, which Sinclair has previously said will be done in a phased approach.

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by Alex Rawnsley

Free food market opening at Nanaimo’s VIU campus

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