Nunavut signs up for $7.6-million national school food program

Nunavut will receive $7.6 million in federal funding over three years as part of the National School Food Policy to enhance its school food programming.

“We know that children learn better when they have a full belly, right guys?” Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada Jenna Sudds said addressing about 25 students at the Nanook Elementary School in Apex on Friday.

Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada Jenna Sudds announcing $7.6 million in federal funding for school food program in Nunavut at Nanook school in Apex on Friday . (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)

Sudds announced the new funds at the school at an event hosted by a Grade 5 student Braelyn Lewis and Grade 4 student Alec Nichol.

Nunavut already has a school food program that currently serves 11,000 students across the territory. The new funding is intended to help with upgrades to kitchen facilities and the hiring of staff. It will also provide more country food, giving Nunavummiut “foods that nourish children while keeping cultural connections strong,” the announcement says.

The National School Food Policy was released in 2024 with $1 billion budgeted for over five years. It aims to provide up to 400,000 children per year across Canada with access to food at school.

Nunavut  is the latest jurisdiction to sign up for the program after Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

“Providing students access to healthy food in schools can make a huge impact in retention and graduation rates,” said Premier P.J.Akeeagok, one of half a dozen dignitaries at the event.

“We have seen firsthand the importance of breakfast programs in getting our kids to school and the difference it makes when students enter the classroom with full bellies.”

The announcement comes as the Inuit Child First Initiative funding is about to expire at the end of March with some leaders saying it would cause a “humanitarian crisis”  if the program is not extended.

Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok surrounded by Nanook elementary school kids after a funding announcement for a school food program in Iqaluit on Friday. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)

The initiative is a federal program that gives Inuit children access to health and education supports and is similar to Jordan’s Principle for First Nations children.

The school food program is an “important piece” in battling food insecurity at the time of uncertainty with the Inuit Child First Initiative, Sudds said in an interview after the announcement.

“I think today’s announcement and the school food investment is a step in the right direction, we understand that food insecurity particularly in the North is heightened.”

After the event, students had some cake and had the chance to talk to the officials.