OTTAWA, TRADITIONAL UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY, ON, March 26, 2026 /CNW/ -- The strength, knowledge, and priorities of Northern Indigenous communities are charting the path toward stronger local food systems. Today, the Honourable Rebecca Chartrand, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, announced that nine Indigenous-led projects will receive over $2 million in funding as part of the second phase of Nutrition North Canada's Food Security Research Grant to conduct research on food security and food access inequality in isolated northern communities.

These research projects will look at ways to make healthy food affordable and accessible in northern communities. They will examine how food is shipped, owned, and sold, how these systems affect food quality, availability, and cost, and consider how hunting, fishing, and local sharing systems can help improve access to both traditional foods and store–bought foods.

These grants are in addition to the $30 million in top-up funding announced last month for Nutrition North Canada, to make nutritious food and essential items more affordable in 124 isolated northern communities by subsidizing the cost of shipping.

Today's announcement was made at the Nutrition North Canada Food Sovereignty Summit convened with the support of Food Banks Canada. The Summit is bringing together Indigenous leaders, community representatives, non-profits, industry partners, researchers, and federal partners to look at issues of northern and Indigenous food sovereignty and to work together to find practical recommendations to strengthen food systems.

Discussions at this event are part of the Government of Canada's engagement with leadership, communities, and organizations across the North—and these important discussions are informing actionable plans to improve northern food ecosystems and economies.

Quotes

"Today's discussions have underscored the vital role of Indigenous-led research in strengthening food security across isolated northern communities. Through the Food Security Research Grant, we are supporting projects that centre on Indigenous partnership, traditional knowledge, and capacity building. I also want to thank Food Banks Canada for their support in convening today's gathering and for recognizing, through their own programs, how critical this research is in shaping good policies, strengthening food security, and building healthier food economies and ecosystems that create lasting change."

The Honourable Rebecca Chartrand
Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

"Food Banks Canada was pleased to have supported these discussions by convening participants from Northern communities for this gathering. We did so to help ensure that people have an opportunity to share their experiences and create a space to listen and find real solutions together. We are committed to being a valuable partner in addressing the hunger crisis in the North, where food insecurity has long been disproportionately worse than elsewhere in the country. We know that real progress depends on the right people coming together, rooted in trust and reconciliation with a focus on improving access, better supports and collaboration with communities."

Kirstin Beardsley, Chief Executive Officer
Food Banks Canada

"Food security is fundamental to community well-being, self-determination and reconciliation. By supporting Indigenous-led research in the North, we are investing in solutions that are grounded in local knowledge, culture, and lived experience. These projects will help strengthen northern food systems, advance Indigenous food sovereignty, and inform future policies that better reflect the realities of isolated northern communities."

The Honourable Rebecca Alty,
Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations

"Far too many families in northern and remote communities face unacceptable barriers to accessing affordable, nutritious food. Through Nutrition North Canada and investments like the Food Security Research Grant, we are working alongside Indigenous partners to close these gaps, strengthen supply chains, and advance sustainable, community-led food systems that serve communities today and for generations to come."

The Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty
Minister of Indigenous Services

"Ensuring that people in Northern and Indigenous communities have reliable access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food is a priority for the Government of Canada. By supporting Indigenous-led research and innovation, we are strengthening local food systems, advancing food sovereignty, and helping communities build solutions that reflect and respect their priorities. Together, we are working to close gaps in food access and create more resilient food systems for all Canadians."

The Honourable Heath MacDonald
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"Food sovereignty means empowering the people who harvest and process our seafood, grow our food, and sustain rural and coastal communities across this country. Canada's first Food Sovereignty Summit is about taking control of our future and building a more resilient, sustainable food system, both on the land and the water."

The Honourable Joanne Thompson
Minister of Fisheries

"Access to healthy, culturally appropriate food remains a significant challenge in many northern and isolated communities. Indigenous-led research helps identify practical, community-based solutions rooted in local knowledge and lived experience. This work is critical in creating approaches that better respond to local needs and strengthen local food systems in the North."

Ginette Lavack
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services

Quick facts

• Nutrition North Canada is a Government of Canada program that helps isolated, northern communities make nutritious food and some essential items more affordable and more accessible.
  
  
• There are currently 124 isolated northern communities benefiting from the Nutrition North Canada program. These communities are located in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador. One 112 of those 124 communities are also eligible for the Harvesters Support Grant.
  
  
• Nutrition North helps eligible communities through its expanded food security programs, including the Food Security Research Grant, which funds Indigenous-led projects that focus on food security and food access inequality in isolated northern communities.
  
  
• Food Security Research Grant funding is being provided to applicants through two phases:
  • Phase 1 (2022-2025) invested $1.5 million in five projects that studied the impact of the NNC retail subsidy and improving equitable access to store-bought food.
  • Phase 2 (2025–2028) will invest over $2 million in nine projects that will support research to help guide policy interventions that seek to reduce food insecurity.

Related products

• Backgrounder: Projects funded through Phase 2 of the Food Security Research Grant
• Backgrounder: How Nutrition North Canada works

Associated links

• Nutrition North Canada
• Food Security Research Grant
• What is Food Security and Sovereignty
• Minister Rebecca Chartrand highlights the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit
• Minister Gull-Masty announces new support to empower Inuit and strengthen Northern Communities
• Minister Vandal announces five new Indigenous-led projects that study food security in northern communities – Canada.ca

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SOURCE Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada