Feds detail $100 million pledged to fight food insecurity during pandemic

OTTAWA — Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says the federal government will distribute $30 million to Indigenous communities and about $65 million to local organizations across Canada to support food security during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a virtual news conference today, Bibeau says Food Banks Canada and Breakfast Club of Canada will each receive $18.5 million, and Community Food Centres Canada, Second Harvest and Salvation Army will also receive just under $9 million each.

Indigenous Services Canada will get $30 million to boost its community support fund to help ensure access to adequate food in First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities.

Ottawa originally announced the $100 million in funding added to the emergency food security fund in October, which had already received another $100 million in the spring.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that food banks, local food organizations and Indigenous groups will be able to purchase and safely distribute food with these funds, to help vulnerable people and communities.

A Statistics Canada report this week said 14.6 per cent of respondents to a survey conducted in May reported experiencing food insecurity within the previous 30 days.