Alberta
Alberta's provincial grant program funds school jurisdictions and public charter schools to provide one nutritious meal per school day, reaching an estimated 58,000 students.
Official program
School Nutrition Program
Administered by Alberta Education and Childcare, the program provides $20 million/year in grant funding. School jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools receive the grants and decide how to allocate them to individual schools based on local need — there's no single province-wide family application.
How it works
Participating schools design a program offering one nutritious meal per school day, following the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth, with school authorities setting their own meal timing (breakfast or lunch). Grant funds can cover food costs, staffing, administration, and infrastructure.
$20 million/year in provincial funding is topped up by the Canada-Alberta National School Food Program Agreement — about $17.4 million in 2025-26 and $17.6 million in 2026-27, part of a federal commitment exceeding $43 million through 2027.
Benefits for kids
National Canadian research shows school nutrition programs improve attendance, concentration, and academic performance, and reduce school misbehaviour by removing the stigma tied to need-based meal access — benefits especially pronounced for lower-income children, a population Alberta's own data shows is disproportionately affected by food insecurity.
Local facts
- Alberta had the highest household food insecurity rate among Canadian provinces in 2025, at roughly 28-31% depending on the data cut cited. (Source: CTV News, Sept 2025)
- Alberta also has the highest rate of severe food insecurity among provinces, at 9.4%; food banks recorded 174,311 visits with children accounting for 63,729 of them (per the 2023 Hunger Count). (Source: Food Banks Alberta)