Backgrounder: Federal vision for a National School Food Program

No child should go to school hungry or sit in a classroom all day wondering where their next meal will come from— which is why the Government of Canada made the National School Food Program permanent. Budget 2025 proposed to introduce legislation and provide $216.6 million per year, starting in 2029-30, to make the National School Food Program permanent. The National School Food Program Act received Royal Assent through Bill C-15 on March 26, 2026, and is now law in Canada.

Announced in Budget 2024 and launched in 2024-25 with an investment of $1 billion over five years, the National School Food Program is providing meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year, by working with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to enhance and expand access to school food programs across Canada.

The Government is focused on lowering costs for Canadians and helping them get ahead. By supporting the health and academic success of students, including those living in food-insecure households, the program advances healthier futures and greater savings for Canadian families.

Policy and Implementation
The National School Food Policy, released on June 20, 2024, sets out a collaborative, long-term vision for school food programs across the country. It emphasizes:

• Universal access to school meals without stigma or barriers;
• Promotion of healthy eating practices; and
• Integration with local food systems, cultures, and environments.

The policy guides the work with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners on National School Food Program implementation and is based on advancing shared national objectives for nutritious, accessible, flexible, and accountable school food programming.

As of March 2025, the Government of Canada signed bilateral agreements with all provinces and territories on the National School Food Program. Provinces and territories will use funding provided through these agreements to enhance and expand school food programming across Canada, which can include activities like:

• Serving healthier meals to more students;
• Hiring staff for food preparation and delivery; and
• Purchasing essential kitchen equipment and infrastructure.

Two-year action plans (covering fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27) have been developed with provinces and territories. These action plans outline how provinces and territories intend to use National School Food Program funding to enhance and expand school food programs within their jurisdiction.

Details on the bilateral agreements with each province and territory can be found through the National School Food Program agreements webpage.

As outlined in the provincial and territorial agreements and action plans for 2025-26 and 2026-27, total federal funding has doubled to $140 million annually to help fund the following school food program activities:

Alberta
The federal investment will support public school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools in enhancing and expanding school food programs by offering additional meals to students, improving the nutritional value of meals, increasing the number of students served, and establishing new school nutrition programs in schools not currently offering programming to students. Alberta’s School Nutrition Program empowers local decision-making, partnerships, and support for local food production to ensure programs are tailored to meet and reflect the needs of local communities.

British Columbia
Federal funding will support increasing the number students served, enhancing kitchen infrastructure, and increasing the nutrition of school meals which will provide more menu options that are inclusive of dietary restrictions and cultural preferences. B.C. school districts are also taking actions to increase purchasing of B.C. foods, including building relationships and forming partnerships with local suppliers to prioritize the use of local food in school food programs.

Manitoba
The federal investment will continue to support Manitoba in providing more robust school food programming in 71 schools with higher socioeconomic needs. Depending on the needs at each school, this will involve a range of program enhancements, including offering more meal programs, serving more students, providing more food, and offering more nutritious food choices.

New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s school breakfast program was expanded by the Government of New Brunswick to reach every school in the province in the fall of 2025. The federal government is offering support to this program.

Newfoundland and Labrador 
With the support of the federal investment, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador plans to increase access to the pay-what-you-can lunch program in more schools, as well as upgrade school kitchen facilities, hire personnel, and work with local communities and organizations to ensure accessible programming for all students. 

Northwest Territories
Federal funding will support enhancements to existing programs such as increasing the quantity and quality of nutritious food available, infrastructure improvements, and equipment upgrades. Funding will also support the hiring and training of staff to improve program coordination and expanding existing school food programming to reach more students. The federal investment will also empower schools to hire local staff and to tailor programming to community needs, ensuring programming is responsive and rooted in local knowledge and priorities.

Nova Scotia
Federal funding will enhance Nova Scotia’s significant provincial investment in school food programs and support a shared commitment to providing nutritious, local food in schools. Specifically, it will enable Nova Scotia to extend the provincial breakfast program (known as the School Healthy Eating Program) throughout the school year; expand the provincial lunch program to all outstanding schools; and improve and expand lunch recipes and menus to better accommodate more students, among other initiatives. Nova Scotia has also committed to ensuring at least 20% of all food used in their lunch program is from local suppliers.

Nunavut
Federal funding will support school food program enhancements such as increasing the quality and quantity of nutritious food, upgrading school kitchen infrastructure, and hiring key positions (e.g., school food program coordinator) and the development of a Nunavut School Food Policy. Funding will also support efforts to increase access to country foods in all schools in the territory.

Ontario
Building on progress achieved in 2024-25, federal funding will continue to strengthen and support the expansion of Ontario’s Student Nutrition Program and First Nations Student Nutrition Program over the next two years. Federal funding will also support the expansion of the Northern Fruit and Vegetable Program to serve students throughout the full school year. Additionally, Federal funding will support the Student Nutrition Program to continue to source fresh Ontario-grown produce for students across the province.

Prince Edward Island
Federal funding will support the enhancement of Prince Edward Island’s school food programs. Support for the universal pay-what-you-can lunch program will include efforts to convert more schools to a “hub model” and continued quality control and standardization efforts. Federal funding will also support the maintenance of the universal free breakfast and snack programs, as well as work to strengthen and modernize the provincial school food policy environment.

Quebec
The federal investment will help the Quebec government to enhance and expand its school food programming. In its asymmetrical agreement, Quebec provided a Portrait (in lieu of Actions Plans) confirming that the Government of Canada's investments will make it possible to improve their Budget Measure 15012 and school food programs offered by organizations such as the Breakfast Club (which operates nationally under the name Breakfast Club of Canada) and La Cantine pour tous, as well as 17 other school food organizations.

Saskatchewan
The federal investment will be provided to school divisions to enable the creation of new school food programs and the expansion of existing ones, increasing access for vulnerable students. Funding will also support enhancements to the quality of programs, supporting school divisions to work with local communities and experts to ensure school meals are nutritious and culturally relevant. 

Yukon
Federal funding will support enhancing and expanding school food programming in the Yukon including infrastructure improvements (e.g., large-scale kitchen upgrades, improvements to kitchen appliances and supplies), and future planning and evaluation for school food programming in the territory. Funding will also support the launch of a hot lunch pilot in seven schools (urban and rural) and will help test ways to deliver school food, gather data, and address logistical challenges before expanding further.

Under the National School Food Program agreements, the Government of Canada is providing provinces and territories with approximately $350.6 million over three years for school food programming, including approximately: