Seeks to Enhance Food Security in Northern Canada

The Government of Canada wants to improve food security in the North and has announced measures for external review of the Nutrition North Canada (NCC) subsidy program.

The program was established in 2011. In recent years, rising costs have particularly affected remote northern communities, where food and essential items are often transported long distances. 

A Ministerial Special Representative will be appointed in early 2025 to launch an external review of the program. The representative will have a mandate to meet with Indigenous organizations and stakeholders, as well as relevant federal government organizations to evaluate NNC’s effectiveness, and to make recommendations on how to improve it. A final report will be completed in 2026.

A research symposium will also be organized in December 2024. Academics and Indigenous partners will discuss interim findings in studies of food security in northern isolated communities and consider improvements to NCC.

“Everyone across the country should have access to healthy and affordable food. The announced measures announced will bring important recommendations to enhance the program and support food security in the North,” says Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs.