Question Period Note: Food security

• Our government is aware of the difficulties Indigenous
households are experiencing as a result of the rising costs of
food in Canada. Food security is a long-standing issue for
Indigenous Peoples, made acute by the COVID-19 pandemic and
now global inflation.
• To support Indigenous Peoples during the COVID-19 pandemic,
our Government has provided funding for food security
initiatives through the Indigenous Community Support Fund.
• I am committed to continuing to work with partners to develop
and implement measures that support Indigenous Peoples, and
their access to affordable and healthy food.

Food security is a critical and broad, long-standing issue that is influenced by a variety of
complex and interconnected drivers including poverty and income levels, the cost of living,
educational attainment, the high cost of transporting food, community infrastructure,
environmental changes (climate change, resource development, degradation), and economic
development . Unique considerations for food security among Indigenous Peoples include the
need to take into account both traditional/ country food and market food systems and the
impacts of colonization as well as intergenerational trauma.
While prevalence of household food insecurity in Indigenous households as a result of COVID-
19 are not available, prior to the pandemic prevalence of food insecurity was much higher
among Indigenous households than non-Indigenous households in Canada, and is especially
pronounced in northern and isolated communities.
• According to the First Nations Regional Health Survey, in 2016, 50.8% of First Nations
aged 18 years and older lived in households that experienced food insecurity in the past
12 months;
• According to the Aboriginal People’s Survey (APS), in 2017, 77.1% of Inuit living in Inuit
Nunangat aged 18 years and older lived in households that experienced food insecurity
in the past 12 months; and
• In 2017, 30.0% of Métis aged 18 years and older lived in households that experienced
food insecurity in the past 12 months (APS). Meanwhile, in 2017-18, 8.8% of Canadian
households experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months [Canadian Community
Health Survey (CCHS), 2017-18].
Current federal supports that help address elements underpinning food security include food
subsidies, nutrition education initiatives, income assistance, and infrastructure or innovation
supports, however a cohesive and sustainable approach does not exist.
ISC investments are supporting many complex and interconnected drivers that influence food
insecurity, such as poverty and income, the cost of living, public health, educational attainment,
community infrastructure, adaptation to environmental changes, economic development, and
the impacts of colonization and intergenerational trauma.
While ISC does not have a food security program per se, it does support food security-related
activities indirectly through a range of programs, services and initiatives that were designed to
address other priority areas, such as diabetes prevention; nutrition education initiatives; income
assistance; economic development; Jordan’s Principle and the Child First Initiative as well as
health adaptation to climate change. Included in these supports are a suite of community-based,
culturally relevant health promotion programs with a focus on healthy child development, social
and mental wellness, substance use prevention and treatment needs including the promotion of
community wellness initiatives for all ages, and healthy living.
Further, ISC co-chairs the Inuit-Crown Food Security Working Group, a sub-working group of
the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, to provide a whole-of-government approach to the
issue of food insecurity. This is done by leveraging the contributions of multiple federal
departments, including ISC, as well as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; regional Land Claim
Organizations; Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada; Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada; and the
National Inuit Youth Council.

If pressed on support through programs
• Multiple federal programs, policies and initiatives exist that
support certain aspects of food security in Indigenous
households and communities.
• Indigenous Services Canada funds programs and services
focused on health, income assistance, assisted living, lands and
environment, education and economic well-being, all of which
have some connection to food security in one way or another.
• Through this type of programming, communities have the
flexibility to allocate funding as well as to design and deliver
activities based on their unique needs and priorities and
Indigenous self-determined approaches

If pressed on further support measures
• To date, more than $2 billion has been allocated through the
Indigenous Community Support Fund to provide Indigenous
communities and organizations with resources to implement
their own solutions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including
food security related measures.
• In 2022, an additional $240.5 million was announced to further
support the Indigenous Community Support Fund.
• Our Government announced an additional $100 million in
October 2020 through the Emergency Food Security Fund to
improve access to food and increase food supply