No more approvals for Inuit Child First Initiative food voucher program applications: official
Food and other supports to be based on individual needs; researchers say that isn’t good enough
The end of the hamlet food voucher program means many families are facing an imminent food-security crisis, researchers say. (File photo)
Updated on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 10:15 a.m. ET
The Nunavut food-voucher program that helped feed thousands of Inuit children since it was rolled out last year by Inuit Child First Initiative won’t be renewed.
The federal government will not approve any more funding under the universal food-voucher program, used by 24 of Nunavut’s 25 communities last year, Indigenous Services Canada program officer Andrew Ouellette wrote in an April 17 email obtained by Nunatsiaq News.
Oullette’s email is to Opal McGinnis at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., and refers to a recent denial of a food voucher program extension application from the Hamlet of Kugaaruk.
“[Indigenous Services Canada] has determined, based on its analysis of legal obligations related to substantive equality under the Inuit Child First Initiative, that funding for universal food voucher programs will not be approved,” Ouellette’s email said.
The Inuit Child First Initiative program has “funded large-scale requests for food” like the food-voucher program in the past, Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Pascal Laplante said in an email Wednesday.
A new “operational bulletin” means funding requests will be granted based on the individual needs of the child, Laplante said.
The news came as a surprise to people familiar with the program.
“There has been no advance notice,” said Sindu Govindapillai, director of Qupanuaq, which oversees programming funded through the Inuit Child First Initiative.
“We’re talking about the substantial support disappearing overnight.”
Participating Nunavut hamlets received millions of dollars last year through the food-voucher program. It provided families with $500 a month for every Inuit child under 18 and $250 for children aged four and under in those communities.
The program was funded by the Inuit Child First Initiative, a federal government fund that pays for health, social and educational products, services and supports for Inuit children. Funding for that program, including its food voucher program, expired March 31.
Indigenous Services Canada announced a $121.7-million, one-year extension in March. This money still needs approval from Parliament, which won’t sit until after the April 28 federal election.
Govindapillai, who is a pediatrician at Qikiqtani General Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, is part of a group of researchers studying the effects the food-voucher program has had over the past year in the Qikiqtaaluk region.
Researcher Tracey Galloway said the cost of food in these communities is so high that even those with full-time employment struggle to make ends meet.
“I did a series of interviews in February, and all of the people I spoke to described a situation where it was very common to skip meals,” said Galloway, an associate professor in the University of Toronto’s anthropology department.
“Everybody I interviewed struggled.”
Vandna Sinha, another researcher, offered a similar description of her interviews with community members.
“People did tell us that they would go hungry for a few days in order to make sure their kids had food to eat. There is no reason to think that’s not the situation we are headed for,” said Sinha, an associate research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s school of education.
She added that with almost 80 per cent of children 14 and under in Nunavut experiencing food insecurity, parents get blamed for what is really a systemic problem.
“If 80 per cent of kids are coming from homes where there’s [food insecurity], and 45 per cent of them are in homes where people are going without food in order to make ends meet, would that be OK?,” Sinha asked.
“And if it wouldn’t be OK elsewhere in Canada, why do we accept it in [Nunavut]?”
Note: This article was updated from its originally published version to include a comment from an Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson.
There you go Liberals, hungry children
Food for thought.
Canadian Liberal Government in 2024, committed approximately $7.2 Billion in foreign aid,, while in 2023 committed $6.9 Billion.
2024
$2.4 billion in loans to support civilian services
$76 million for peace and security
$5 billion to the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine
$52 million to support Ukraine’s recovery and rebuilding efforts
$123 million to Haiti to enhance security and humanitarian efforts
$25 million to Lebanon in humanitarian aid
$84 million to Syria for humanitarian assistance
$3,9 million to promote sustainable forest management
Other significant bilateral assistance also included significant allocations to various countries
Democratic Republic of Congo $195 million
Mozambique $172 million
Tanzania $165 million
Mali $164 million
Ghana $151 million
South Sudan $149 million
Kenya $141 million
Nigeria $141 million
Pakistan $115 million
Senegal $115 million
Guyana $108 million
Jordan $106 million
Uganda $107 million
Lebanon $104 million
Indonesia $100 million
Canadian Federal Government cares more about other countries more than indigenous children in Canada These numbers are insane.
Hi Hunter,
The biggest chunk of your data there is a little more than $5 billion for Ukraine, who happens to be fighting a war against Russia right now. Russia is not Canada’s greatest ally, to say the least.
Canada gave $5 billion to Ukraine. Population of Ukraine is ~40 million. So that’s about $125 per capita in contributions to Ukraine.
If Canada was to give $125 for every person in Nunavut, population about 40 thousand, it would give $5 million.
In reality, the federal government gives about $2.5 billion to Nunavut, which is about $62,000 per capita in contributions to Nunavut.
If Canada was to give $62,000 for every person in Ukraine, it would be giving about $2.5 trillion.
Question, what has Russia done to harm Canada?
Canada should go back to what we were know for. Peace keeping, remaining neutral.
I get Russia point of view they do not want NATO equipment and personnel within sticking distance of their country, they view it as a threat.
I would understand the need to do it in Russia had troops and equipment in Cuba but they don’t.
Canada should stay out of Ukraines/Russia/American business. This is only fueling Americas war industries and economy they are laughing all the way to the bank while thousands of Ukrainians and Russians are dying because of US foreign policy wanting troops and equipment on Russian door step.
Russia engages in propaganda against Western countries, including Canada. Canadian intelligence has shown that state-owned Russia Today has become actively engaged in Russia’s global disinformation and influence efforts by acting as an extension of Russian intelligence services, relying on state-backed hacking, psychological and information operations, covert influence, and military procurement.
Their efforts include engaging and recruiting Western political commentators and influencers, including Canadians, with the primary goal of leveraging them to produce and disseminate inaccurate and harmful content.
Russia Today has acquired and managed other pro-Russia assets, including cyber actors who have previously carried out information operations and caused cyber incidents against Western targets, including Canadian critical infrastructure.
Neutral!? Say what? We are, and have always been, far from neutral.
You suggesting we withdraw from NATO?
Are you implying NATO is an offensive membership?
Offensive membership? Are you a Russian bot?
Being a member of NATO is literally not a neutral position.
I wonder if they asked in the interviews how much the people spent on pop, weed, and facebook raffle tickets.
It was not cash or a cheque, it was a voucher.
We could not buy stuff if was unhealthy, the unhealthiest thing we could buy was brown sugar and that’s it, couldn’t even use it for most cereal because most cereal contains too much sugar, anything with high sugar content was red flagged at check-out.
We also couldn’t buy tickets or weed with it.
But it did help alot, you have to know, everything at the stores could be 3-6 times more than what you pay.
The program was meant to help buy food and prices are crazy in most communities but I see parents spending their other money like child tax etc at the bootleggers and dealers in my hamlet constantly then asking people for food for the kids because they run out.
And often, that food was then traded for illicit goods or sold for cash.
The current government is still willing to feed your children. They just want a bit of oversight first.
Nunavut should seperate from canada. More money to forein countries than to its own ppl
That would certainly save the Canadian taxpayer a lot of money . However, life isn’t only about profit and loss.
I agree, Nunavut should separate.
Further more
It is estimated 7 million people have fled Ukraine annd that number keeps growing everyday. So your numbers are not accurate.
At the end of the day it is not Canadas fight, in my opinion we should stay out of it and be prepared to provide aid to rebuild when peace is declared.
Oh sorry, I guess the funding provided to Ukraine doesn’t apply to the wartime refugees. That brings the $125 per capita contribution to Ukraine to a whopping $175 per capita.
The cost to rebuild Ukraine is currently expected to exceed $500 billion, and that is growing every day. It would probably be much larger if other nations didn’t contribute to Ukraine’s war efforts. Or maybe it would just be $0 because Ukraine would cease to exist.
But, since you’re interested in Canada providing aid to rebuild, how much of that $500 billion should Canada contribute “when peace is declared”?
Please fact check Nunatsiaq (or use google). “There was no warning” is not true. It was announced last spring a 1 yr extension for the program with an end date of April 1, 2025. An entire year of “warning”. That time could have been used to push and advocate for sustainable and appropriate solutions. Emergency ICFI funding was never meant to aid food insecurity universally. Of course something needs to be done about food insecurity and poverty! But we dont need more money spent for southerners to come research our “hunger”. Who approved those ethics I wonder?? It is already well documented that Nunavut has insane food insecurity. What a waste.
Now that this program is trying to be about what it is mandated to be–hopefully other departments can be held accountable to what they need to do to improve the state of affairs here!
Please stop publishing about this ICFI program unless you publish truths and facts.
Why is everyone arguing about about foreign aid when the more relevant comparison is parties gearing up to spend money militarizing Nunavut, putting a base in Iqaluit while also cutting food voucher funding lol
With some fanfare, the “extension” was announced and reported here in early March.
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/ottawa-extends-inuit-child-first-initiative-funding-just-days-before-march-31-expiry/
This is pretty deceptive by the government to my eyes…..
Maybe start with paving the roads? Why does t9 have to be a challenge even getting to the store ans back let alone the cost of food.
I can tell you exactly why the food voucher program was eliminated, and that is because it (like most of the Inuit Child First initiatives) was a universally accessible program that was being abused by wealthy families with significant resources at their disposal. The program likely did a lot of good things however it should have been needs-based and not universally accessible. After the election, expect the Feds to come with a needs-based program that will do a better job of ensuring that the resources get to the families who really need it and don’t end up in the laps of free loaders who are only gaming the system to their benefit.
Northern guy, yea that is the only liberal giveaway that was being abused, that the liberal gov. Cut, liberals will give, and take away, like always
So “wealthy families”, the ones who work and pay taxes that fund these programs are the “free loaders” in your mind?
Stop saying “I pay my taxes too” like it means something. Nunavummiut make up for a measly $150,000,000 in taxpaying revenue. Compared to the $500,000,000 it costs to run the ONE SINGLE program.
The food voucher program was successful and we saw happy families, happy parents and happy children from having food.
The decision to discontinue the food voucher programis by qallunaat. The Qalunaat will take away what helps the Inuit. It’s all about controlling inuit. They will never try to improve the lives of inuit in the Arctic unless it will benefit them.
Help yourself! if qalunaat “help” inuit as you say, won’t that be some form of colonization? so it is not colonization when you want our money? get real!