Ontario strikes $108.5M school food program deal with feds to provide 9.8 million meals a year

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 will announce the agreement with Ontario in Toronto Friday morning. 

Sudds’s office told CBC News the money will feed an additional 160,000 students and provide 9.8 million meals a year.

In the spring, the Liberal government first announced it would provide $1 billion in funding over five years for a national school food program that would deliver meals to 400,000 more children a year.

Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters he was “all in” on the federal plan to provide meals to students, confirming the province was in talks with the federal government to work out details.

“We’re in the midst of discussions right now with the feds,” he said. “I think it’s so helpful for kids to have a little meal in them. It makes them think better during the day. 

“We’re just waiting to hear the amount from the federal government, what they’re going to be pitching in.”

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.

N.L. and Manitoba sign on

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. 

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.