Inuit Child First Initiative needs to be universal

It was as simple as it was revolutionary.

In 2023, somebody with the non-profit Indigenous Kids Network had the idea to help Clyde River apply for community-wide food vouchers, good for $500 per month per child under the age of 18, with an extra $250 per month allocated to children under four for needs such as diapers or formula.

Twenty-four of Nunavut’s 25 communities organized applications through the Inuit Child First Initiative. Once approved, Inuit families could declare how many children they had and receive cards loaded with money that they could use at their local grocers.

The Inuit Child First Initiative Hamlet Food Voucher program wasn’t really a program. It was an innovative way of using a pot of money meant to ensure Inuit children have equal access to health, social and education support.

Over the two years it was in place, the federal government spent $89.5 million on vouchers that helped feed 15,000 Inuit children.

The effects were unequivocal. Parents who reported they were eating one meal a day before the food vouchers were no longer skipping meals so their children could eat. Nunavut health-care workers noticed a “night-and-day” change, with fewer children seeing doctors for nutrition-related issues. Teachers said students were more alert at school and their grades improved.

The food voucher program was staunched in early 2025 and Indigenous Services Canada rolled out stricter regulations for group requests.

These policy changes are also affecting the number of student support assistants in Nunavut schools this year, because Inuit Child First Initiative no longer approves requests for student support assistance, except for exceptional needs, again on a case-by-case basis.

Classrooms look very different this year as a result, says Nunavut Teachers’ Association president Justin Matchett, with students not getting support and teachers struggling with stress and burnout.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty has been working on a new-and-improved Inuit Child First Initiative for the past year. Hopefully she’s considering a more universal approach to the program.

The spirit and principle of Inuit Child First Initiative is to provide a safety net for Inuit children. Making it easy for organizations, schools and hamlets to get approval for group applications makes that safety net stronger and reduces the risk that individual families won’t walk away, frustrated because of what at least one parent has described as an “inflexible, intrusive” application process that is “incompatible with life in Nunavut.”

Does a universal approach to Inuit Child First Initiative open the door for people to benefit from a program that might not be intended for them, such as more well-off families accessing food vouchers they may not need? Did the food voucher program contribute to food inflation in Nunavut? These were common criticisms.

Abuse of open-ended programs is, of course, possible.

But Inuit Child First Initiative needs to meet Nunavummiut where they are. And laborious, extensive applications that require documentation and endorsements are not feasible for many families.

We know the food voucher program and other group-focused initiatives led to healthier Inuit children.

Reinstating the old Inuit Child First Initiative won’t fix everything.

But it would be a grievous mistake to, in the name of saving a little money now, forgo positive impacts that lead to better health outcomes — and money saved down the line.