Nutrition North considers expansion to more northern communities

A federal program designed to make nutritional food more accessible to northerners says it is considering expanding its reach.

Currently, there are 125 isolated northern communities eligible for the Nutrition North Canada subsidy, which is given to grocery stores to bring down the prices their customers pay for certain foods. (How well the program works is a matter of debate.)

Of those communities, 112 are also eligible for the Harvesters Support Grant, which supports hunting, harvesting and food-sharing.

On Wednesday, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada director-general Wayne Walsh presented to MLAs about the Nutrition North program alongside representatives of Food Banks Canada.

Earlier this week, the two organizations joined Sahtu leaders for a discussion on improving food security in the region. Both were in Yellowknife for a three-day visit that concluded on Thursday.

At the Wednesday briefing, Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya asked if Nutrition North plans to expand to all northern communities.

Walsh said the federal government is actively looking at bringing the program to what it calls “semi-isolated communities.” Which communities that would include was not immediately clear.

“The measure for semi-isolated communities would be different [and] would definitely play a role in how we determine eligibility,” Walsh said.

“We are looking at it. It’s something we’ve been considering and hopefully we’ll have good news – you know, knock on wood – depending on what the government decides.”

When Nutrition North was launched in 2011, Walsh said, it only included communities that benefited from food mail, an earlier program. “That had its own problems,” he said.

Over the years since, eligibility has changed to incorporate isolated communities that do not have road access and rely on air transportation for more than eight months each year.

Based on feedback that the criteria should be further tweaked, Walsh said the new focus will be on communities that don’t necessarily meet the existing definition of isolation but experience “the same or worse levels of food insecurity.”

Asked by Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely how Nutrition North can help address the needs of the region’s residents, Walsh said the supply chain becomes an issue as climate change reduces the length of the winter road season.

“We need partners like Transport Canada to look at alternatives in building that infrastructure so there’s some stability there, because it’s just becoming more and more acute,” he said.

Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong said residents in her community travel to Yellowknife to buy affordable groceries. She highlighted challenges locals in isolated communities face when trying to sustain a healthy lifestyle away from the capital.

She stressed that more food banks in communities, especially where there is only one store and no retail competition, are “greatly needed.”

Food Banks Canada program officer Jay Stevens said the charity is trying to build a “direct relationship” with NWT communities to assess their food bank requirements.

Stevens added a key point raised in this week’s meetings was the idea of developing a food distribution hub in Yellowknife to promote accessibility to other regions.

Yakeleya asked if Food Banks Canada had any plan to create positions in the North. Stevens said the organization is fully remote and has limited staffing resources.

“We can be the voice for the northern communities, as well as being the liaison between ourselves and external organizations to promote and secure food security programs within the region,” Stevens said.

Nutrition North has no office in Yellowknife – its staff are located in the Ottawa vicinity.

Both Nutrition North and Food Banks Canada have been invited to visit communities in the Sahtu. A trip is expected to take place in February.

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