Canada’s School Food Program Is Expanding. Here’s What Parents Should Know
A new federal update says school meal funding has doubled to $140 million a year, with up to 400,000 more kids set to benefit.
One in three Canadian children goes to school hungry. An expansion to Canada's School Food Program could help feed more kids.
On June 16, the federal government announced that provinces and territories have finalized their action plans for the 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 school years. Ottawa says its funding for those plans has now doubled to $140 million a year, and the expanded program could help provide meals to up to 400,000 more children annually.
That is not a small shift. According to the announcement, more than 10,000 schools, about 80 percent of provincially and territorially operated schools, already offer food programs. The government also says families with two school-aged kids in a participating program could save about $800 a year on groceries.
What’s changing
The federal government is not running one identical national meal plan in every school. Instead, it is funding provincial and territorial plans, meaning that the program may look different depending on where families live.
Some schools already offer breakfast, lunch or snack programs, while others may now be able to expand what they provide. The new funding is also meant to help provinces and territories align their programs with Canada’s National School Food Policy.
What parents should know
For parents, the biggest takeaway is simple: more school food support appears to be on the way, but the rollout will not look the same everywhere.
If your child’s school already has a breakfast or lunch program, this funding could mean more stability or a broader offering. If it does not, families may start hearing more from school boards and provincial governments about what is changing ahead of the next school year.
At a moment when grocery costs still feel stubbornly high, any update that could make weekday lunches a little less stressful will likely land well with parents.
This article was crafted with the assistance of an AI language model. The final content was reviewed and edited by a human and reflects the editorial judgment and expertise of Today's Parent
Vanessa Grant is the Editor-in-Chief of Today’s Parent and a seasoned lifestyle journalist. With extensive experience in editorial leadership and content marketing, her work has been featured across Canada's top media outlets, including the CBC, Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life. When she isn't steering the editorial vision for Canada's most trusted parenting brand, she is navigating life in the parenting trenches as a mom to two spirited boys—which means she knows far more about Minecraft and Pokémon than she ever thought possible.