Question Period Notes
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The Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting component of the Indigenous Languages Program provides funding and supports the production and distribution of Indigenous radio and television content, with a focus on distribution in the North. Annual funding for Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting has remained static at $7.9 million since 1997. Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting currently supports 22 clients for the 2026-28 fiscal years.
• The IMF has released its April 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) on April 14, projecting global growth to moderate in 2026 compared to 2025.
• The Middle East conflict is expected to weigh on growth and put upward pressures on headline inflation on the back of higher energy prices. The reference forecast assumes that the conflict will have limited duration, intensity, and scope; such that the disruptions will start fading as of mid-2026, consistent with commodity futures prices as of March 10.
What is the status of Old Age Security service delivery results and Benefits Delivery Modernization? The Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) Programme is the largest digital transformation initiative ever undertaken by the Government of Canada. Through a phased approach with an expected completion date of 2030-31, the Programme is modernizing how the federal government delivers Old Age Security (OAS), Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits, by replacing old systems with technology fit for the digital age.
OAS is one of the Government’s largest programs, currently providing 7.7 million seniors with pension benefits every month. In 2024-25, seniors received more than $80.2 billion in benefit payments.
In 2025-26, as of February 2026, 75.2% of OAS benefits were paid in the client’s first month of entitlement, as compared to 87.3% for the same period in 2024-25 (target is 90%).
In 2025-26, as of the week ending March 31, 2026, the Pensions Call Centre answered 3.04 million calls with an average wait time of 18 minutes.
The first OAS on BDM release on the new, more modern platform (Cúram) occurred on June 12, 2023, when 600,000 OAS Foreign Benefits clients were migrated to the modern system.
On March 17, 2025, all remaining 7.4 million OAS clients were migrated to the new benefits delivery system. Since then, the new Cúram system is operating correctly.
In 2025-26, 7.7 million OAS clients received $86.2 billion in benefit payments.
Budget 2025 announced an additional $150 million in 2025-26 for CBC/Radio-Canada to strengthen its mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians in both official languages. The government is also exploring options to modernize CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate, with a focus on independence, accountability, local news, emergency communications, Indigenous perspectives, and combating misinformation.
This delivers on the Government’s commitment to increase public funding for CBC/Radio-Canada by $150 million and work with the Corporation to explore ways to modernize their mandate with emphasis on culture, innovation, and service to communities.
CanNor – Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) Fund
CanNor – Support to Northern Infrastructure Development (SNID) initiative
Main Estimates 2026–2027
N.A.
Update on the National School Food Program . Canada had approximately 6.6 million school-aged children (ages 4-18) in 2024 according to Statistics Canada population estimates.
According to the 2023 Canadian Income Survey (released on May 1, 2025):
802,000 children (persons under 18) were living below the poverty line.
The poverty rate for children and youth (persons under 18) increased by 4.3 percentage points to 10.7% in 2023, up from 6.4% in 2021.
Food insecurity among children and youth in Canada’s provinces increased to 32.9% in 2023, up from 28.4% in 2022, with 24.7% of children experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity.
Families with children were more likely to experience food insecurity. Specifically, 52.1% of people living in female lone-parent families and 28.6% of people living in couple families with children experienced food insecurity, representing an increase of 6.1 and 3.9 percentage points from 2022, respectively.
For the provinces, rates of food insecurity among children and youth are lowest in Quebec (27.5%) and highest in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick, at 39.9%. While data on children experiencing food insecurity in the territories are not available, rates of food insecurity, in general, in the territories are high, with 37.4% of people living in a household that experienced food insecurity. Food insecurity rates varied by territory, with Nunavut (58.1%) having the highest rate, followed by the Northwest Territories (34.2%) and then Yukon (21.8%).
School food programs can provide numerous benefits, with research from peer countries suggesting that every dollar invested in school food yields an estimated $2 to $6 in social returns.
Studies show that children and youth who participate in robust school food programs go on to earn 3-5% more than those who did not.
School food programs can also have long-lasting impacts on children’s educational attainment, nutrition, and overall well-being.
Prior to federal investment, school food programs funded by provincial and territorial governments had reached at least one in four school-aged children during the 2023-24 school year.
Provinces and territories continue to make investments in school food programming, with total funding estimated at almost $400 million for the 2025-26 school year. However, persistent affordability pressures have meant that the demand for school food programming continues to grow.
Announced in Budget 2024 and launched in 2024-25 with an investment of $1 billion over five years, the National School Food Program supports provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to enhance and expand access to school food programs across the country, guided by the National School Food Policy which sets out a long-term vision for school food programming in Canada. The National School Food Program aims to provide meals to up to 400,000 kids every year.
Each province and territory is responsible for maintaining commitments made through their National School Food Program bilateral agreement with the Government of Canada, including to report annually on implementation progress, results and expenditures. Given that the Program is in early implementation, with 2024-25 being the first year, final reporting from provinces and territories is not yet complete.
Budget 2025 proposed to introduce legislation and provide $216.6 million per year, starting in 2029-30, to make the National School Food Program permanent. The National School Food Program Act, tabled as part of the Budget 2025 Implementation Act No.1, reinforces the Government of Canada’s commitment to maintain sustained, long-term federal funding for the Program, helping to ensure improved access to nutritious food, while also meeting the essential needs of families and supporting their well-being. The Act was enshrined in law on March 26, 2026.
On April 8, 2026, a new school-food focused research funding opportunity was announced: the Funding Research Evidence in School Food (FRESH) Team Grant
A total of $12.6 million is available over three years to support school food research through FRESH. This includes: $9 million from Employment and Social Development Canada; $2.7 million from the Public Health Agency of Canada; and $900,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Funding will support up to 14 grants.
Applicants must register to apply by June 25, 2026, and will have until October 7, 2026, to submit their applications. The funding start date is January 2027.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine. In response, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) implemented and extended various temporary measures, including the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) and the introduction of a family-based permanent resident pathway.