You may have seen the news of Prime Minister Carney’s announcement about making the National School Food Program permanent, with $200 million in annual funding beginning in 2029. You can read more about it here.

This is great news! And, while this funding will make a difference, it will only reach a fraction of the children who need support. According to government estimates, the investment will provide meals for about 400,000 kids, representing roughly 8% of school-aged children in Canada.

This announcement marks an important milestone in recognizing school food as a national priority and extends the federal government’s existing five-year investment in school food, which begins in 2025 and runs through 2029.

This is a step in the right direction toward ensuring more kids across Canada have access to the food they need to learn, play, and grow. However, we also know that, in 2024, more than 1 in 3 kids across the country lived in a household experiencing food insecurity. In Alberta, the rate is even higher, with 38% affected.

For Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids, this announcement doesn’t change our day-to-day work. The need in our city remains significant, and we know that community-led programs like ours, and many others, will continue to play a crucial role for years to come.

It’s encouraging to see school food recognized nationally, and we’ll keep doing what we do best: helping make sure kids have access to food they need to thrive.