2025.EX24.3

Background

"Student nutrition programs are community-based initiatives that provide meals or snacks to school-aged elementary and secondary students during the school day…While all students benefit from nutrition programs, they are particularly impactful for those who face inconsistent access to healthy food. In Toronto, child and family poverty has sharply increased, rising to 25.3%, up 8.5 percentage points since 2020, with some areas seeing rates as high as 40–60%. As these trends worsen, school food programs that include a morning meal and lunch can help ease financial strain by saving families $129 to $189 per child each month, or $1,290 to $1,890 annually, with potential annual savings of $2,580 to $3,780 for families with two children. According to the National School Food Program analysis, one school meal a day is expected to save the average participating family with two children as much as $800 a year, or $88 a month in grocery costs. They also offer broader benefits by supporting local economies, creating jobs, and promoting sustainable food systems amid ongoing global trade disruptions."

Source: City of Toronto

Item Description

City Council requests the Province of Ontario to increase its annual grant funding for the Student Nutrition Program to match the City of Toronto’s current and future investments, while providing adjustments to funding allocation keeping in mind the impact of food cost inflation. In addition, it includes a new Toronto Public Health capital project, “Universal Morning Meal Program” ($7.492M; $3.800M in 2025 and $3.692M in 2026), funded by Capital from Current, to cover one-time rollout costs for Student Nutrition Program Phases 3 and 4, and other authorizations.

Source: City of Toronto

Proposed by

Executive Committee