Question Period Note: Nutrition North Canada

Nutrition North Canada helps make perishable and nutritious foods more affordable and accessible to residents of eligible isolated northern communities that lack year-round road, rail or marine access.
The program subsidizes perishable foods flown in by air, and is now also subsidizing non-perishable and essential items brought in by seasonal sealift, barge or winter road.
The Government continues to work directly with Northerners to update the program.
The Harvesters Support Grant will also increase access to traditional foods.
Together we can ensure northern families have access to more affordable, healthy food.

The Nutrition North Canada program’s objective is to help make perishable, nutritious food more accessible and more affordable than it otherwise would be to residents of isolated northern communities that lack year-round surface access (i.e. permanent road, rail, or marine). There are currently 116 communities eligible for the full subsidy available under the program.

The impact of the program on food prices is measured through a “Revised Northern Food Basket”, which reflects the cost of food in isolated northern communities. The cost of the Revised Northern Food Basket in March 2018 was lower by $4.35 (or 1.02%) than in March 2011, prior to the launch of the program. According to Statistics Canada, the price of food purchased from stores elsewhere in Canada increased by 10.5% over that same time period.

In the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the government announced an additional investment in the program of $62.6 million over five years starting in 2019–20, with $10.4 million per year on an ongoing basis. These investments support program enhancements such as a new targeted subsidy level for essential food items and childcare goods for communities most in need, and a seasonal surface transportation subsidy for items shipped by sealift and winter road. Additionally, the program continues to develop a Harvesters Support Grant, to help alleviate the high costs associated with traditional hunting and harvesting and improve access to country foods.

Program development and implementation is informed by the Nutrition North Canada Advisory Board, which provides advice to the Minister, and two important engagement forums at the working level: the Indigenous Working Group, which is made up of representatives of First Nations organizations that serve communities eligible for Nutrition North Canada; and the Inuit-Crown Food Security Working Group, which was created by the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee to work towards food security across Inuit Nunangat. The Department continues to work with its Indigenous partners to enhance the program in making it more accountable, transparent, and culturally relevant for Northerners.

If pressed on the Harvesters Support Grant

Our Government understands how important it is that northern families have access to more affordable, healthy food.
This is why, in collaboration with Indigenous partners, we have developed the Harvesters Support Grant, which aims to improve access to traditional foods by alleviating the high costs associated with traditional hunting and harvesting of country foods.
We will strive to deliver the funds to eligible organizations by Spring 2020.

If pressed on Transparency regarding the Subsidy

In order to further enhance transparency, the program continues to work with Indigenous and northern partners on establishing a northern-based audit review committee to ensure that suppliers and retailers have passed on the subsidy to consumers.