Question Period Note: Nutrition North Canada

N.A.

• The Government of Canada recognizes how critical food security is to people living in the Arctic and the North, including Indigenous peoples.
• The affordability crisis is more extreme in Northern and isolated communities and I am committed to taking concrete action.
• Budget 2025 reaffirmed our commitment to co-developing solutions to address affordability challenges and the high cost of living.
• Along with partners, we are developing evidence-based, community-led approaches to strengthen food security and support local food economies.
•We hosted the Food Sovereignty Summit on March 26-27, where we brought together Indigenous leaders, community representatives, non-profits, and stakeholders to discuss local and Indigenous-led solutions that strengthen food security and food sovereignty.

Isolated northern communities—where most residents are Indigenous (First Nations 48.3%, Inuit 40.4%, Métis 1.8%)—experience some of the highest food insecurity rates in the developed world. This is a complicated, multijurisdictional issue, directly linked to poverty and exacerbated by isolation.
While rising costs are a reality across Canada, affordability challenges are particularly acute in Canada’s North, where food and essential items must be transported long distances through complex food distribution systems and costly transportation.
Reliance on air and surface transport, limited food retailer competition, inadequate storage, and climate change events all drive up prices and reduce access to affordable food, impacting health and the economy in Northern, isolated communities.
Nutrition North Canada (NNC) provides food security programming in 124 Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in all three territories and six provinces.

If pressed on current efforts to improve program effectiveness
• This work is urgent. With the Arctic at the forefront for Canada’s sovereignty, we have to address essential needs of those living in the Arctic and the North. Food is at the top of that list.
• Recently, we introduced innovative supply networks, expanded access to county foods and created more affordable food options.
• Budget 2025 is clear that we will reform Nutrition North Canada to build on its successes while increasing control for local economies.