{"id":726717,"date":"2026-06-10T04:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726717\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:31:10","slug":"itk-wants-nutrition-north-scrapped-replaced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/726717\/","title":{"rendered":"ITK wants Nutrition North scrapped, replaced"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recommendation included in 48-page report aims to reduce poverty across Inuit Nunangat<\/p>\n

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami wants to work with the federal government to develop a \u201cmore effective\u201d replacement for Nutrition North.<\/p>\n

This is one of 30 ideas included in a 48-page strategy the organization released Tuesday that aims to address the region\u2019s \u201csocioeconomic inequities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis strategy is a roadmap, but it is also an invitation \u2013 an invitation to invest in our vision and to co-create a future in which no Inuit are left behind,\u201d ITK president Natan Obed said.<\/p>\n

Inuit have lower life expectancy, employment rate and median individual income than other Canadians, and \u201ca basket of groceries can cost two or three times more in Inuit Nunangat than in southern Canada,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

That leads to more than 70 per cent of Inuit over the age of 15 living in food-insecure households in Inuit Nunangat, compared to just under 18 per cent in the south, according to Statistics Canada.<\/p>\n

One of the actions included in the strategy is to \u201cengage the federal government in co-developing a more e\ufb00ective program to replace Nutrition North,\u201d a federal program that subsidizes the high cost of healthy food and other essentials in 124 northern communities.<\/p>\n

The federal government is working on reforms to Nutrition North after\u00a0years of complaints<\/a> about the program, but ITK wants it dismantled, saying the government should instead regulate food prices in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand, who attended the launch of ITK\u2019s Poverty Reduction Strategy, said she looks forward to working with the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019ve heard across the board\u2026is that communities need to be the architects of the ways in which food security is improved,\u201d she wrote in a statement to Nunatsiaq News. \u201cWe are putting that feedback into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s strategy isn\u2019t the first time ITK has called for the end of Nutrition North. In March, the organization released a framework that suggested how the program could be replaced. The report called the current program \u201cfragmented, inflexible, and not fully aligned with Inuit priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA direct price regulation model would be clearer, more enforceable, and better aligned with a\ufb00ordability outcomes,\u201d the March report stated. It also said the federal government should subsidize transportation rather than retailers and support the creation of Inuit-owned co-operatives.<\/p>\n

Other items included in Tuesday\u2019s strategy include greater participation of Inuit in the wage economy through the establishment of Inuit Nunangat university, as well as advocacy for \u201cculturally relevant\u201d social programs.<\/p>\n

ITK aims to review the strategy every five years to track its progress.<\/p>\n

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