The federal government is set to launch a nationwide school food program, promising to distribute meals to more than 400,000 children annually.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the National School Food Program initiative on April 1, 2024, during a press conference in Scarborough ahead of the federal budget for April 16.
The program is budgeted at $1 billion over five years and begins in the 2024-2025 school year.
“We all want kids to have the best start in life, including the most vulnerable,” Trudeau said at the media conference.
The announcement was made alongside finance minister, Chrystia Freeland and was the latest one of the government’s pre-budget announcements.
Ritu Walia, mother of an 11-year-old, said this move by the government is something she appreciates as it will help parents like her who work.
“This initiative will be of great assistance to parents like me who work and sometimes are not able to do enough when it comes to the children as our timings clash in the morning,” she said. “I have myself experienced sometimes not providing the best of nutritious food to my child when I am in a hurry to go to work in the morning.”
Trudeau said the program targets children not currently fed by the existing school meal initiatives and programs.
“The National School Food Program, with an investment of $1 billion over five years, the Program, included in Budget 2024, will launch with a target of providing meals to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programs,” Trudeau said.
“The lack of access to food disproportionately impacts children from lower-income families and from racialized and Indigenous communities,” he said.
Trudeau said initiatives will also be taken in the communities with the highest ratio of food insecurity in Canada, including First Nations, Inuit, Métis communities and Self-Governing and Modern Treaty partners.
This initiative by the federal government aims at provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to broaden the scope of their current food programs and policies so more children can have a healthy and nourishing meal.
The Breakfast Club of Canada, an organization working with volunteers from various sectors to provide high-quality national food programs, welcomed the initiative by the federal government. It said this will work towards the well-being of the children.
“The creation of a National School Food Program is a major step forward for the well-being of children, especially after a few difficult years due to inflation and the pandemic,” the organization said in a media release after the announcement by the federal government.