Diesel Price Surge Puts Pressure on Ottawa Mission’s Food Truck Program
2 October 2026
As covered by CTV News Ottawa, the recent surge in the price of diesel has put pressure on local businesses and organizations, including our Mobile Mission Meal’s food truck program.
A free meal program that visits 40+ stops in low-income and underserved areas of the city, The Ottawa Mission’s food trucks are a vital service that prevents seniors, young families, those living with disabilities, and others on fixed incomes who are grappling with poverty from going hungry.
While our food trucks run on gasoline, the equipment inside runs on diesel.
With two meal trucks operating each day, crisscrossing the city to make anywhere from 5-7 different stops, costs for running the program have increased alongside the prices of gasoline and diesel.
“Each truck serves about 200 meals, those meals need to be kept warm,” said Aileen Leo, communications director with The Ottawa Mission. “Both the price of diesel, which is now at record levels and also the price of gasoline has a tremendous impact on the operation of these trucks.”
For a non-profit that relies on donations, those higher costs add up quickly.
Leo says it has cost about $850,000 a year to operate the food tucks in previous years. This year, she expects that total to be much higher.
“I would be very surprised when we review our finances if the cost was not approaching, or more than, $1 million,” she said.