Nearly a million Ontario children will have access to school meals this year, federal officials say.
The officials told Global News Friday that Ottawa will be chipping in $108.5 million over the next three years to Ontario’s existing Student Nutrition Program and First Nations Student Nutrition Program, which provides meal through more than 13 agencies to schools across the province
The government source said that means “close to a million Ontario kids” will have access to school food before summer break, representing almost 75 per cent of the province’s schools.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Brampton Friday to announce new details on his government’s National School Food Program.
The government announced the program in April; with $1 billion earmarked for the program over five years, Ottawa said it will provide meals to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programs.
“The new National School Food Program will also help provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners expand their existing school food programs to make sure more children across the country can enjoy the healthy meals they need,” the government said in a statement at the time.
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“The program is good for parents and kids, and it’s good for the economy as well. It will help take pressure off of families and invest directly in the future of our kids, while improving children’s health, education, and well-being.”
Trudeau himself has touted the program as a “game changer.”
“The program will take pressure off of families, invest directly in the future of our kids, and make sure they’re able to reach their full potential – feeling healthy and happy,” he said in an April statement.
“This is about fairness and doing what’s right for our kids to get the best start in life.”
To date, Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Manitoba have signed onto the program; the government announced Friday Ontario will be joining in as well.
Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters he was “all in” on the federal plan, saying his government was in discussion with Ottawa regarding it.
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