Question Period Note: CanNor – Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) Fund

CanNor – Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) Fund

• Through its Northern Isolated Community Initiatives (NICI) fund, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) is strengthening northern food systems.

• The NICI fund invests in community-led projects that benefit local and Indigenous food production systems, with an emphasis on innovative and practical solutions to increase food security in the North.

• Since 2019, CanNor has approved over $15 million across over 70 projects to strengthen and diversify the northern food sector.

• Through programs like NICI, CanNor is enhancing northern capacity and supporting broader efforts to improve long-term food security and reduce structural reliance on imported systems.

Background:
• NICI was first announced as part of the 2019 Food Policy for Canada.

• In 2024 the NICI fund was renewed and its scope of coverage expanded; in addition to the territories, NICI is now delivered in Nunavik and Nunatsiavut by other Regional Development Agencies.

• This expansion supports Government of Canada activities to improve access to federal initiatives across Inuit Nunangat and for all Inuit.

• In 2026-27, an additional $6.3 million through the Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund was announced across the three RDAs to support food initiatives that strengthen and diversify economic activity in the North.

• In 2025-26, CanNor administered about $2.3 million through NICI across 8 projects to advance northern food security and economic diversification.

Territorial Examples:
• CanNor is providing up to $1.2 million to the Black Spruce Education, a youth-led organization in Norman Wells, NWT, to develop a space for food training opportunities, small business incubation, and cultural programming.

• The Agency is also providing up to $875,000 over three years for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Government in the Yukon to make improvements to their Teaching and Working Farm, boosting the farm’s yields, which in turn increases revenues and improves access to local nutritious food in the region.

• Through the NICI fund and its sub-stream the ‘Northern Food Innovation Challenge’, CanNor delivered $1 million to the Ittaq Heritage and Research Centre (Ilisaqsivik Society) in Clyde River, Nunavut.