Ontario strikes $108.5M school food program deal with feds to provide 9.8 million meals a year
Federal families minister says deal will feed an additional 160,000 kids
Ontario has reached an agreement with the federal government that will see $108.5 million roll out over the next three years to help fund a school food program in the province.
Officials said the money represents a first round of funding, with federal support for the program in the years ahead still to be negotiated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds announced the agreement with Ontario in Brampton on Friday morning.
"We're stepping up today to deliver more school food right across the country with a huge agreement with Ontario that is going to set the bar for the rest of the country," Trudeau said.
"When kids don't have full bellies … when they're worried and low-energy and not able to focus in class because they're hungry, we all suffer."
Trudeau said the national school food program is part of his government's efforts to tackle the affordability crisis — efforts which include national daycare and dental care, a temporary cut to GST on essentials and $250 cheques for the 18.7 million people in Canada who worked in 2023 and earned less than $150,000.
Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a national school food program, according to the Breakfast Club of Canada. Advocates have argued that a national program is needed to fill gaps left by a patchwork of provincial, local and charitable programs that are under strain due to low resources and high food prices.
In the spring, the Liberal government responded to that gap by announcing it would provide $1 billion over five years for a national school food program that would deliver meals to 400,000 more children a year.
Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Ontario have signed on to a partnership with the federal program.
Ontario welcomes federal partnership
Ontario's Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Michael Parsa thanked Trudeau and Sudds for partnering with the province to help to feed more children in Ontario.
"In our province we have a long and proud history of supporting student nutrition programs and we're so pleased to welcome the Government of Canada as a new partner," he said in Brampton Friday.
Parsa said Ontario's current Student Nutrition Program serves more than 600,000 children and youth and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program provides more than 1.4 million breakfasts, lunches and snacks annually.
Speaking to reporters in Hamilton Friday, where he was making an unrelated announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he is a fan of the program.
Watch | Ford government 'enthusiastic' about school food program from the start, Trudeau says:
"We're going to work hand in hand with the federal government to make sure that kids don't go to school hungry," Ford said.
Sudds's office told CBC News the money going to Ontario will feed an additional 160,000 students and provide 9.8 million meals a year.
The funding in Ontario will flow through 13 lead agencies and Indigenous partners who administer existing provincial school food programs, such as the Student Nutrition Program and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program.
In the first year, $15.76 million of the federal funding will go to Ontario's Student Nutrition Program and $2.78 million will go to Ontario's First Nations Student Nutrition Program.
Heidi Yetman, President of the Canadian Teachers' Federation, said the deal is a "true investment in the children of Ontario" and praised the federal and provincial governments for working together to strike the agreement.
"This is a monumental step towards addressing the critical issues of food insecurity and to helping children thrive, and this will make a difference for generations to come," Yetman said.
The Ontario Chapter of the Coalition for Healthy School Food welcomed the deal, saying it demonstrates the province's commitment to strengthening the provincial school nutrition program.
"This agreement comes at an important time for Ontario student nutrition programs, which have been under significant strain due to increased food costs and growing demand for programs in recent years," the advocacy group said in a statement.
In September, N.L. became the first province to sign an agreement with the federal government to expand support for its provincial school lunch program.
The $9.1-million, three-year deal provides funding to give more than 4,000 students access to a lunch this school year.
Last month, the Liberal government announced it struck a similar agreement with Manitoba, which will see over $17 million in federal funding added over the next three years to the $30 million Manitoba has already budgeted for its "universal school nutrition program."
At the time, Sudds said the initial boost of $3.8 million would be going to high-needs areas in Manitoba this fiscal year, delivering food to an estimated 19,000 kids, as enhanced breakfast, lunch or snack programs roll out.
Sudds's office said Friday the three deals her government has struck with provinces so far will feed 183,000 kids every year, almost halfway to the federal government's goal of feeding 400,000 additional children annually.
MP Michelle Ferreri, the Conservative families, children and social development critic, dismissed the school food program as a "photo op" that "will not feed kids, it will feed bureaucracies."
"Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost to our families and our children," she said in a statement sent to CBC News.