Demand for northern Ontario school nutrition program is up as a federal funding deal is in the works

The Student Nutrition Program in the Sudbury-Manitoulin district hasn't received a funding increase in nearly 10 years, but demand for food is up by 20 per cent in the last year alone.

With that growing demand and the inflated cost of food, Angele Young, the program's regional manager, says it's a challenge to purchase enough food for the 90 schools from the region that participate in the program.

"We take advantage of as many rebate programs as we can," she said. "We are always looking for deals and bulk buying to get the best possible prices for schools."

Young said she remains hopeful that Ontario will sign on soon to Ottawa's $1-billion National School Food Program, which was announced earlier this year.

In a news release in April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office said the program would launch "with a target of providing meals to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programs."

But as with the national $10-a-day child-care program, the National School Food Program requires a buy-in from the provinces.

Ontario joined the national child-care program in March 2022, but waitlists for subsidized daycare spots remain long.

The province committed to creating 86,000 new child-care spaces when it joined the program. But according to a report from The Canadian Press, so far, 51,000 new spaces have been created, and of those, 25,500 are within the $10-a-day system.

Deal in the works

In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said the province has invested an additional $6.15 million in the Student Nutrition Program and the First Nations Student Nutrition Program this year. That brings the total provincial investment for both programs to over $38 million for the year.

"Our discussions with the federal government are proceeding and we look forward to receiving their investment as we work toward supporting greater access and program sustainability. Further questions about delivery of the federal program should be directed to the federal government," the email said.

Genviève Lemaire, spokesperson for Jenna Sudds, Canada's minister of families, children and social development, said in an email to CBC News that the federal government is committed to rolling out the national school food program as quickly as possible.

"While Ontario has not yet signed on, we are in active discussions with them and hope to get an agreement signed soon. Our message to them is clear: let's sign a deal and get more kids fed now," Lemaire said.

"Our hope is that they don't repeat the early learning and child-care negotiations and sign on last. Kids and parents are counting on us to work together to get this done."