Alternative federal budget 2026: Food security

Introduction

Food insecurity exists at both the household and community levels. Household food insecurity occurs when there is inadequate access to food due to financial constraints,¹ and community food insecurity occurs when communities cannot sustainably access or produce culturally appropriate food due to systemic barriers.² Both types of food insecurity are deeply interlinked, so addressing them together is essential for lasting, equitable food security.³

In 2024, nearly 10 million people—including 2.5 million children—in the 10 Canadian provinces experienced household food insecurity,⁴ the highest rate ever recorded and a 15 per cent increase from the previous year. This figure likely underestimates the crisis, as it excludes people in the territories, on reserves, in institutions, or in remote communities, and people who are unhoused—all groups at higher risk of experiencing food insecurity.⁵ Household food insecurity stems from inadequate incomes driven by economic inequality, high living costs, stagnant wages, precarious work, and weak supports.⁶

Community food insecurity is also widespread across the country, especially in rural, remote, Northern, Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities. It manifests through poverty, housing insecurity, unemployment, unaffordable essentials, poor access to food, and food bank reliance.⁷ It is caused by systemic conditions such as colonial legacies, structural inequalities, land dispossession, and corporate concentration.⁸

With political will, food insecurity in Canada is solvable. Evidence-informed policies can reduce food insecurity by recognizing food as a human right, raising incomes, curbing corporate profiteering, and supporting Indigenous and Black food sovereignty.

Overview

The policies advanced in this AFB are grounded in the following five key insights.

1. Food insecurity impacts every aspect of peoples’ lives

Food insecurity undermines health, child development, relationships, employment, and dignity. People often skip meals to afford rent, utilities, or medication. It results from and reinforces denied human rights. It worsens poverty, impacts education and employment outcomes, and strains our healthcare system.

Food insecurity leads to more health problems and greater health care use.⁹
Even without facing hunger themselves, children in food insecure households experience worse mental health.¹⁰
People in food insecure households often skip prescription medications due to cost—nearly half of them face food insecurity.¹¹
Food insecurity and housing unaffordability are closely linked. Three in ten renters and one in six mortgage-holders are food insecure.¹²
Overall, food insecurity contributes to anxiety, depression, and social isolation.¹³

2. Household food insecurity is an income problem

Inadequate income is a key driver of food insecurity. Employment incomes are not keeping pace with living costs. Housing costs and interest rates are squeezing household budgets. Precarious work—more common among racialized and newcomer communities—is on the rise.¹⁴

Work alone is not enough to meet basic needs, yet public supports keep falling short, leaving millions vulnerable.¹⁵ This explains the following:

3. Food insecurity reflects and perpetuates inequities

Food insecurity does not affect all households or communities equally. It is shaped by colonialism, racism, ableism, and policy failures that limit access to income, land, education, and healthcare.²⁰ Community food insecurity undermines community resilience through lost infrastructure, weak investment, land dispossession, and policies that prioritize corporate chains. Many communities lack access to grocery stores, growing spaces, or culturally appropriate food. Even with sufficient income, people may face high prices, poor quality, or limited options.

Nearly 40 per cent of Indigenous Peoples off-reserve live in a food insecure household.²¹ Rates are higher on reserves.²²
Some 32 per cent of racialized people and 47 per cent of Black people experience household food insecurity.²³
People with disabilities are twice as likely to be food insecure.²⁴
Households led by Indigenous, Black, and racialized earners or people with disabilities face higher food insecurity, even above the poverty line.²⁵

4. Community food insecurity is driven by corporate control

A few powerful corporations dominate Canada’s food system.²⁶ Their profit-driven practices raise costs, limit competition, and concentrate power. These situations squeeze out smaller players and they limit local food economies, food system democracy, and consumer choice. They weaken community food sovereignty and reduce food access for entire regions—especially in remote and Northern communities.²⁷

Farmers face rising input costs and consolidation, leading to fewer industrial farming alternatives and debt (see the Agriculture chapter).
Supply chain shocks are passed to consumers through shrinkflation and skimpflation.

5. For Indigenous and Black communities, food insecurity is a food systems issue

Colonization has disrupted Indigenous food systems and severed ties to ancestral lands²⁸ (see the First Nations chapter). Indigenous food sovereignty efforts face colonial funding policies, regulatory barriers, and chronic underinvestment.²⁹ Programs like Nutrition North often subsidize corporate retailers over community-led harvesting.³⁰ Climate change further threatens food ecosystems.³¹

Black communities face systemic racism, land and capital barriers, and historic exclusion.³² Black-led food efforts remain underfunded and underrecognized.³³ Discrimination in housing, employment, and education compounds food insecurity,³⁴ while lack of race-based data limits targeted support.³⁵

Indigenous and Black communities are resilient and are leading transformative food sovereignty work. Investing in these efforts is critical for reconciliation, racial justice, and systemic change.

Actions

1. Legislating national household food security targets

The AFB will pass a bill by fall 2026 to set two national targets: cut household food insecurity by 50 per cent and eliminate severe household food insecurity by 2030, using 2021 as the baseline. These targets align with Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and UN Sustainable Development Goals. Meeting them would mean three million fewer people facing household food insecurity.

The AFB will establish a time-limited federal working group with sectoral experts and people with lived experience to recommend actions to achieve these targets.

The AFB will measure progress using disaggregated data by race, Indigeneity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and geography to track equity (see the Racial Equity and Gender Equality chapters).

2. Strengthening household incomes across the lifespan

Research shows that income supports reduce household food insecurity.³⁶ For instance:

Severe household food insecurity among families with children dropped after the Canada Child Benefit increased support for recipient families in 2016.³⁷
Household food insecurity halved among low-income, unattached seniors at age 65 when they started receiving Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.³⁸

Building on these successes, the AFB will introduce:

An End of Poverty supplement to the Canada Child Benefit for 636,000 low-income families
Canada Livable Income for 3.6 million low-income working-age adults
Guaranteed Income Supplement enhancements for 2.7 million low-income seniors
Targeted affordable housing and rental support, including expanding the Canada Housing Benefit, for households facing housing insecurity—especially for Indigenous, Black and racialized people, people considered to be working poor, and precarious renters

These measures will raise incomes for millions, reducing poverty and household food insecurity (see chapters on Poverty and income security, Affordable housing and homelessness, and Employment Insurance).

Boosting income also enables people to engage more fully in local food economies and community-led food initiatives, reinforcing broader food system resilience.

3. Tackling corporate control in the food system

Income alone cannot solve community food insecurity. Even when people can afford food, they face barriers when entire communities lack access to reliable, affordable, and/or culturally appropriate food due to monopolized markets and underdeveloped infrastructure.

The AFB will rein in corporate power, strengthen food sector regulations, and invest in co-operatives and community food systems. It will take the following actions to build resilient and sustainable community-based food systems and expand equitable access to food:

Introduce regulations to strengthen the Competition Bureau to block mergers, collect pricing data, and dismantle monopolies—especially in underserved areas
Invest $100 million over three years in local, non-profit, and co-operative food retailers and public markets through grants, loans, and training
Establish publicly owned grocery stores in urban food deserts, prioritizing local procurement
Invest $50 million in research on corporate control and community-led alternatives like food hubs and procurement policies, with a focus on rural and Northern areas
Reserve 30 per cent of National School Food Program funds for local food sourcing

4. Supporting Indigenous food sovereignty

Indigenous food sovereignty requires long-term, Indigenous-led approaches rooted in land, culture, self-determination, and intergenerational knowledge.

The AFB will:

Commit $50 million to fully implement UNDRIP and co-develop an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Act, affirming Indigenous jurisdiction over food systems through land access, resources, and climate-resilient strategies
Provide $200 million over 10 years in unrestricted funding for land-based food sovereignty work, aligned with Indigenous cycles and governance
Invest $100 million over five years in permanent, salaried, land-based positions such as hunters, foragers, and knowledge keepers
Allocate $50 million over five years to reform food safety regulations and support traditional practices
Uphold the principle of free, prior, and informed consent by engaging Indigenous governance in decisions on food, land, and culture.

5. Supporting Black food sovereignty

Black food sovereignty requires sustained investment, land access, and recognition of Black-led solutions rooted in mutual aid, ownership, and cultural resilience.

The AFB will:

Fund $50 million to co-develop a National Black Food Sovereignty Strategy with Black-led organizations to support land access, food infrastructure, and culturally rooted systems in Black communities
Invest $200 million over 10 years in unrestricted funding to strengthen Black-led food systems
Commit $200 million over five years to support equitable land access for Black farmers
Allocate $100 million over five years to strengthen Black-led food infrastructure through the Local Food Infrastructure Fund
Invest $50 million over five years in Black-led food security and food sovereignty research, which is often underfunded despite strong community innovation
Mandate race-based data collection on land access, farming, and food insecurity to inform policy

Alternative federal budget 2026: Food security

Building true Canadian sovereignty

Introduction

Overview

1. Food insecurity impacts every aspect of peoples’ lives

2. Household food insecurity is an income problem

3. Food insecurity reflects and perpetuates inequities

4. Community food insecurity is driven by corporate control

5. For Indigenous and Black communities, food insecurity is a food systems issue

Actions

1. Legislating national household food security targets

2. Strengthening household incomes across the lifespan

3. Tackling corporate control in the food system

4. Supporting Indigenous food sovereignty

5. Supporting Black food sovereignty

Alternative federal budget 2026: Health equity

Alternative federal budget 2026: Seniors’ and long-term care

Alternative federal budget 2026: Health equity

Alternative federal budget 2026: Seniors’ and long-term care

Alternative federal budget 2026: Acknowledgements

Alternative federal budget 2026: Artificial intelligence

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Alternative federal budget 2026: Food security

Building true Canadian sovereignty

Introduction

Overview

1. Food insecurity impacts every aspect of peoples’ lives

2. Household food insecurity is an income problem

3. Food insecurity reflects and perpetuates inequities

4. Community food insecurity is driven by corporate control

5. For Indigenous and Black communities, food insecurity is a food systems issue

Actions

1. Legislating national household food security targets

2. Strengthening household incomes across the lifespan

3. Tackling corporate control in the food system

4. Supporting Indigenous food sovereignty

5. Supporting Black food sovereignty

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We’re fighting for change and your donation helps!

Contact Us