Food security contributes to people’s physical and mental health and well-being. Food security exists when all human beings at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, healthy and nutritious food enabling them to lead healthy, active lives. Yet, many Canadians remain food insecure, a problem that is rooted in poverty and socio-economic inequalities. This is notably the case in northern and Indigenous communities, where rates of food insecurity can be up to six times higher than the Canadian average.[1] In northern and Indigenous communities, food is also particularly important to social, cultural and spiritual well-being.

In 2020 and 2021, the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs of the House of Commons undertook a study on food insecurity in northern communities to find ways to ensure that Northerners have access to healthy and nutritious food. The committee heard about the causes of food insecurity in the North, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation on northern food systems, the shortcomings of the Nutrition North Canada program and the need to support community-based solutions to food insecurity.

Based on what it heard, the committee is recommending that the Government of Canada:

• recognize that food insecurity cannot be solved by the Nutrition North Canada program alone and work with Indigenous Peoples and Northerners to explore complementary solutions, such as income supplements or social assistance programs;
• recognize that food sovereignty is a precondition to the food security of Indigenous Peoples and Northerners and enable them to make their own decisions with respect to their food systems;
• launch a full external evaluation of the Nutrition North Canada program;
• support Indigenous-led environmental management and climate change monitoring programs;
• enable the creation of new meat and traditional food processing facilities in the North.