Canada's food guide
About Canada’s food guide
Learn about Canada’s food guide and its resources for the public and professionals.
On this page
- What is Canada’s food guide
- Canada’s food guide suite of resources
- Finding specialized advice
- Stay informed
What is Canada’s food guide
Canada’s food guide is Health Canada’s guidance on healthy eating for people in Canada 2 years of age and older to help:
- meet nutrient needs
- improve nutritional health and well being
- lower the risk of long-term nutrition-related diseases
Canada’s food guide suite of resources
Canada’s food guide includes a suite of resources and tools designed to communicate healthy eating guidance in different ways. These resources can help meet the needs of different users such as health professionals, educators, policy makers, and the public.
Canada’s Dietary Guidelines are the foundation for all Canada’s food guide resources.
Health Canada continuously develops tools, resources, and information to support the uptake and use of Canada’s food guide.
Resources for the general public
Many resources are available to help the public eat healthily.
- Healthy eating recommendations translate Canada’s Dietary Guidelines into simple, relevant advice.
- Canada’s food guide snapshot provides a visual summary of Canada's Dietary Guidelines and healthy eating recommendations. Available in many languages, including languages of Indigenous Peoples, the snapshot can be used to help plan and build healthy meals.
- Tips for healthy eating provides actionable advice on healthy eating, such as meal planning.
- Food guide kitchen is a suite of recipes and cooking skills articles. These can help everyone apply Canada’s healthy eating recommendations.
Canada's food guide was developed for all people in Canada. Recognizing the distinct culture and lived experience of Indigenous Peoples, Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada are committed to working with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation to support the development of Indigenous-led healthy eating tools.
Resources for professionals
A range of resources is available to help support professionals in various roles.
- Canada’s Dietary Guidelines formally sets out Health Canada’s guidelines and considerations on healthy eating for health professionals and policy makers.
- Applying Canada’s Dietary Guidelines provides additional information to support health professionals and policy makers when:
- advising on how to move people closer to recommendations in the guidelines
- developing policies or programs that help support nutrition adequacy
- applying the guidelines to different life stages
- Toolkit for educators supports intermediaries, such as educators, health promoters, and community leaders. The toolkit provides activities that can be used with children to help them learn food skills, develop healthy eating patterns, and understand Canada’s food guide.
- Food guide friendly provides information to support organizations in making improvements to their food environment.
- Canada’s food guide research tools can be used to assess the eating patterns and practices of different groups of people and are informed by Canada’s food guide. Using these tools helps produce standardized research findings that can be compared.
Finding specialized advice
If you are looking for personalized guidance or specialized advice from a dietitian, you can:
- ask a doctor for a referral
- connect with healthcare providers through virtual care options
- use the "Find a Dietitian" service on the Dietitians of Canada website
- call your local health department, hospital, or community health centre
Stay informed
Keep up to date on developments related to Canada's food guide by registering for the Consultation and Stakeholder Information Management System. On the 'areas of interest' page, select 'Canada's Food Guide / Nutrition.'
For questions about Canada's food guide, email us at nutrition@canada.ca.