Food prices: Local, provincial and territorial food-related income support

January 1, 2019

Learn how local, provincial and territorial governments can increase healthy eating by providing food-related income support

Inside this healthy eating policy pack

• Background evidence: healthy eating and cancer
• Evidence-informed policy actions to increase healthy eating
• Key statistics: healthy eating in Canada
• Public and policymakers’ perceptions of healthy eating in Canada
• Economic evidence to support healthy eating policy
• Indicators to measure progress on healthy eating policy

Food-related income support

Issue

Food prices

Action

Food-related income support ^1,2

• Government ensures food-related income support programs are for healthy foods ¹
• Reduce household food insecurity via poverty reduction policies ²

Degree of policy adoption*

Provinces and territories: LOW
31 Canadian municipalities:** LOW

Current action(s) in Canada

Provinces and territories

• Each province and territory (except MB, PE) provides tax-free child or family benefits to eligible parents to supplement income.³ Some of these programs have increased annual benefits based on Consumer Price Index to adjust for inflation each year.
• BC’s Employment and Assistance Regulation provides a nutrition supplement subsidy for cancer patients in employment assistance income.
• ON’s Community Food Program Donation Tax Credit for Farmers encourages farmers to donate to food banks through tax credits.
• Five provinces and territories have policies offering tax credits to farmers/operators (BC, ON, QC, NS, NU).

31 Canadian municipalities**

• Halifax’s Regional Municipal Plan requires that food security be considered in design of communities.

Opportunities for action

Several federal measures and/or programs are in place that support or provide a basis to improve food security including: Nutrition North Canada,⁴ Canada Child Tax Benefit, GST Tax Credit, Working Income Tax Benefit, and Guaranteed Income Supplement for Seniors.⁵

A federal food policy, as well as poverty reduction strategies and policies at the provincial/territorial level represent opportunities to improve access to healthy food and address food insecurity.¹

Basic income guarantees, such as the Ontario Basic Income Pilot (ending March 2019),⁶ are examples of ways provinces and territories could improve food security and reduce poverty, among other desired outcomes.⁷

Municipalities have levers such as planning policies (e.g., official plans, land use planning and zoning bylaws) that could be strengthened to better support food security at the local level.^8,9  In addition, federal and provincial/territorial poverty reduction policies provide broader support.^1,10

* Levels of adoption:  LOW = very few jurisdictions have adopted evidence-informed policy action; MEDIUM = some, but not all jurisdictions have adopted evidence-informed policy action; HIGH = most jurisdictions have adopted evidence-informed policy action.

** Prevention Policies Directory captures information for 31 Canadian municipalities (18 largest municipalities in Canada, and at least 1-2 largest municipalities in all other provinces/territories).

References

¹ Vanderlee L, Goorang S, Karbasy K, Schermel A, L’Abbe M. Creating healthier food environments in Canada: Current policies and priority actions – Summary report. Toronto; University of Toronto, 2017.

² Cancer Care Ontario. (2016). Prevention System Quality Index. Retrieved from: https://www.cancercareontario.ca/sites/ccocancercare/files/assets/PSQI_FullReport.pdf

³ Government of Canada. Child and family benefits: Provincial and territorial programs. Retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs.html

⁴ Government of Canada. Nutrition North Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.nutritionnorthcanada.gc.ca/eng/1415385762263/1415385790537

⁵ Food Secure Canada. (2017). Summary table: FPT policy responses to food insecurity. Retrieved from: https://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/foodsecurecanada.org/files/files/summary_table_fpt_policy_responses_to_food_insecurity_2017.pdf

⁶ Government of Ontario. Basic income pilot. Retrieved from: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-basic-income-pilot

⁷ Alberta Policy Coalition for Cancer Prevention (APCCP). (2017). Public policy to address household food insecurity. Retrieved from: http://abpolicycoalitionforprevention.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/final-apccp-issue-brief-hfi-june-2017.pdf

⁸ Canadian Institute of Planners. Healthy communities practice guide. Retrieved from: https://www.cip-icu.ca/Files/Healthy-Communities/CIP-Healthy-Communities-Practice-Guide_FINAL_lowre.aspx, pp 35-41

⁹ Minaker, L., Shuh, A., Olstad, D., Engler-Stringer, R., Black, J., & Mah, C. (2016). Retail food environments research in Canada: A scoping review. Can J Public Health, 107, eS4-eS13. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17269/cjph.107.5344

¹⁰ Provincial Health Services Authority. (2018). Healthy built environment linkages toolkit. Retrieved from: http://www.bccdc.ca/pop-public-health/Documents/HBE_linkages_toolkit_2018.pdf