PREPARED BY: Comprehensive Health Promotion

DATE: 2026-02-05

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

As a follow-up to the Windsor and Essex County School Food Programs resolution report, passed on November 20,2025, further clarification on municipal investments for local school food sustainability was requested. Although school food programs receive funding from provincial and federal governments, the amount provided still falls short in meeting the need in our community. Ontario currently invests $37.6M in school food programs ($32.6M base funding, plus a $5M increase for the 2025-26 school year only), providing an average of 10¢ per student per day, while Canada's national median Provincial/Territorial contribution is nearly four times higher at 39¢/student/day. 

Although the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (who fund school nutrition) and the Ministry of Education (where programs operate) are within the jurisdiction of the Ontario government, many social services are a shared municipal responsibility. Collaborating with municipal departments such as planning, parks, recreation and poverty reduction is essential to design communities that provide access to safe, culturally appropriate, affordable and nutritious food, prioritizing equity-denied communities. The City of Windsor and the County of Essex have committed to social policy and planning projects including Pathway to Potential (P2P): A poverty-reduction strategy for the Windsor-Essex region and Windsor Essex Regional Community Safety & Well-Being Plan (WERCSWB Plan). Utilizing schools as a venue for action, through school food investments, the goals of these plans can be achieved.

CURRENT INITATIVES 

School food programs are a critical component of a multifaceted approach to address health and education equity: they offer both an immediate response to hunger and an investment in long-term health outcomes by addressing nutritional needs. These benefits affect all children, not just those facing food insecurity.

Benefits of Investing in School Food Programs:

• Universal free school meals (breakfast and lunch) could save families $129–$189 per child each month on grocery bills. For families with two children, this translates to $2,580–$3,780 per school year, about 19% to 28% of the average household food expenditure (Ruetz & Fraser, 2019).
• Beyond household savings, investing in school food programs can also stimulate job creation. A preliminary University of Guelph study found that a Canada-wide program operating at the same staffing level as the U.S. National School Food Program, employing an average of 4.3 food service workers per school, could create approximately 62,000 jobs across Canada’s 15,500 elementary and high schools (Ruetz & Fraser, 2019).
• Evidence from high-income countries shows that universal free school meals deliver a remarkable return on investment, between 2.5 and 7 times, in terms of improved health outcomes and economic benefits (e.g., improved academic performance, reduced healthcare costs, increased productivity) (Lundborg et al., 2022; The Rockefeller Foundation, 2021).

Examples of Municipal Investments in Ontario

Municipalities in Ontario have funded student nutrition programs for several years. Data collected from the Coalition of Healthy School Food found: 

• The City of Toronto provides the largest investment, with an annual investment of over $26 million to SNPs. 
  • In June of 2025, the City of Toronto received A Vision and Strategy for a Universal School Food Program in Toronto Report, which outlines key capital and operating investment requirements; provides an overview of program governance, administration, and ongoing funding; and outlines the framework for ongoing program measurement and evaluation. 
• Additionally, the following municipalities support SNPs financially through various approaches (i.e. multi-year grant stream, annual funding or campaigns):
  • Ottawa ($100,000)
  • Brantford ($85,000)
  • Prince Edward County ($50,000)
  • Cambridge ($15,000)
  • Kingston ($35,000)
  • Norfolk ($3,000)
  • Hamilton ($38,000) 

 Municipal investment ideas:

• Provide direct dollars to OSNP for program stabilization and enhancement, using the City of Toronto’s framework as a guide. 
• Through P2P funding:
  • provide grant opportunities for schools with the highest needs to access funds to enhance their current food programming initiatives.
  • provide grant opportunities designed to support schools in creating/updating food infrastructure within the school environment.
• Use municipal platforms to elevate school food as a shared community responsibility.
• Provide in-kind use of community centres/city owned spaces for food (snack/meal) prep within designated neighbourhoods – helping to reduce number of volunteers needed at individual schools.

Partner with OSNP’s Food & Logistics Team to facilitate relationship building between local growers, food hubs, markets and urban agriculture initiatives to further enhance access to fresh food for both schools and municipal run programs.