Nova Scotia is still waiting for universal school lunch program

A universal school lunch program is coming to Nova Scotia, but nobody can say exactly when.

"The work is underway to examine what that policy will look like and we are moving forward in that direction," Jenna Sudds, Canada's minister of families, children and social development, said during an update on early childhood education Friday in Halifax.

"I don't have a specific [time] to nail down, but I think we all recognize that this is really critical work that we are undertaking. Nobody wants to see a child go to school hungry."

Plans for a universal school program have been in the works since 2021. Ottawa has also released a national foods policy report that summarized feedback it received.

Last year, the Nova Scotia government said it would be ready to launch a program once Ottawa finalizes the details.

Suddsacknowledges that child poverty rates are high in Nova Scotia, and said she hopes to be able to announce a school lunch plan soon.

'We've got food insecurity on the rise'

Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said he doesn't understand why the program is taking so long to implement.

He said school lunch programs have been established in Prince Edward Island and Manitoba. Manitobais aiming to have its program ready by September.

"We've got food insecurity on the rise, one in three visits right now to food banks are kids and youth," Churchill said.

"We know we can really tackle food insecurity, particularly for younger people, if we have our universal launch program in place in our schools."

Churchill said the Liberalcaucus has brought legislation forward every session of the legislature since the last election to get the ball rolling on a universal lunch program in Nova Scotia. He said if other provinces have a program, Nova Scotia should, too.

"It shows me the money is available from the federal government, so I think the onus is on the province, the provincial government, the premier, to prioritize this issue, to actually care about rising poverty and food insecurity."