Question Period Note: National school food policy

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• In December 2021, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development received a joint mandate to develop a National School Food Policy and to work towards a national school nutritious meal program. This shared commitment continues to be a priority as Budget 2022 directs both Ministers over the next year to work with Provinces, Territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and explore how more Canadian children can receive nutritious food at school.
• No child in Canada should go to school hungry. The Government of Canada is committed to working with the Provinces and Territories and Indigenous Partners as well as key stakeholders to bring forward a National School Food Policy.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada have begun working together to implement this commitment, including through engagement with key school food stakeholders in Canada.
• The Health Portfolio will continue to work closely with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada, ensuring that health considerations are included in this work and reflect the recommendations in Canada's food guide.

IF PRESSED ON HEALTH CANADA’S ROLE IN A NATIONAL SCHOOL FOOD POLICY
• Health Canada recognizes that schools are important environments to shape children’s food choices, learn about healthy eating, and develop food skills. Furthermore, children and youth are a priority audience for Canada’s food guide.
• Health Canada will continue to collaborate with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada on the implementation of a national school food policy to ensure the integration of healthy eating considerations including alignment with Canada’s food guide.

In Canada, school food fall under the purview of the Provinces and Territories with the exception of First Nations communities on reserves, where education is federally funded. While many Provinces, Territories and not-for-profit organizations provide school food programs, the provision of these programs (in reach, funding, and delivery) is uneven across the country. Many provinces and territories have school food guidelines for foods served and sold in schools. Canada’s food guide is used to inform these guidelines.

In June 2019, the Government of Canada launched the first-ever Food Policy for Canada, an investment of $134.4 million over five years. As part of the Government of Canada’s Food Policy for Canada, the government announced its intention in Budget 2019 to work with provinces and territories towards the creation of a national school food program. To that end, ESDC undertook engagement sessions in the spring/summer of 2019 with stakeholders in response to this commitment, including one session with Provincial/Territorial Ministers in Education and Health.

Health stakeholders and experts have consistently called for the implementation of national school food programming, including as a means to address food security concerns exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The main goals of a national school food program would be to reduce child hunger, promote child nutrition and healthy eating behaviours, improve educational outcomes, and help contain costs of treating nutrition-related chronic diseases.

Health stakeholders also suggest that there are opportunities beyond the provision of food to address broader food system and societal issues, including food literacy, health promotion, equity, environmental sustainability, and connections with the local food system.

Stakeholders and experts generally favour models that are cost-shared by federal and Provincial/Territorial governments, universal rather than targeted to specific sub-groups of children, focused on nutritious meals, designed to mitigate possible conflicts of interest, and free at point of participation.

The development of a National School Food Policy will require horizontal coordination at the federal level to ensure effective implementation as school food implicates a number of federal mandates (e.g., reflecting Canada’s Food Guide and Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy.

Because of the jurisdiction and existing activities of provincial/territorial governments, the federal government recognizes the importance of engagement with them. It is anticipated that school food programming for Indigenous children will be co-developed with appropriate Indigenous representatives and may follow a number of separate processes.

• In June 2019, the Government of Canada launched the first-ever Food Policy for Canada. The announcement of the Food Policy in Budget 2019 included a commitment by the Government to “engage with provinces, territories, and key stakeholder groups to work toward the creation of a National School Food Program.” This commitment supports the action area under a Food Policy for Canada to help Canadian communities’ access healthy food.
• The December 2021 mandate letters addressed to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development include a commitment to develop a National School Food Policy and to work towards a national school nutritious meal program.
• Key school food stakeholders in Canada are engaged in developing the National School Food Policy including through the Canadian Food Policy Advisory Council, which includes a School Nutrition Working Group.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada are working together to implement this commitment and will work with federal partners, including Health Canada, to engage Provinces and Territories, Indigenous partners, academic experts, and key stakeholders.