Families in Nunavut are struggling to make ends meet, and many are going hungry. A 2021 study found that 79% of Inuit children were food insecure, and new research suggests the situation may be getting worse. We call on the governments of Canada and Nunavut to work with Inuit leadership to immediately increase food access in Nunavut by introducing a cost of living adjustment to the Canada Child Benefit (CCB/child tax).

A new report produced by Qupanuaq and a multi-university, multi-disciplinary research team documents the food security struggles faced by Inuit families in Qikiqtaaluk.  That research shows that food prices have risen sharply in recent years and continue to rise more quickly than food prices in the South. As a result, families are doing everything they can to keep food on the table and to help community members. Still, parents have to plan for hunger. Skipping meals, eating less, or even going days without food are among the daily, weekly and monthly strategies they must use to make ends meet.

The budget tabled last week will not solve the problem. 

• The Inuit Child  First Initiative (ICFI/Jordan's Principle) allocation maintains the current situation, in which the basic needs of Inuit children and families are not being met.
• The increase in NNC funding is only a fraction of what is needed to make food affordable, and (as demonstrated in existing research) most of the NNC benefit will go to high income families.

The new report outlined many different ways to quickly increase food access in Nunavut. The team behind that report sees  a cost of living adjustment that doubles the CCB/child tax in Nunavut as the most efficient way to increase food access for Nunavut families.

I stand with those calling for immediate measures to address the urgent challenge of food insecurity in Nunavut.