Federal government announced look into food subsidy program’s effectiveness in October 2024, in response to criticisms
Former Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk, seen speaking in January 2024, is working on an external review of Nutrition North. The review is expected to be finished March 31, federal Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand said last week. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Jorge Antunes
An external review of Nutrition North is expected at the Department of Northern and Arctic Affairs this week.
Rebecca Chartrand, the federal department’s minister, provided the update Thursday during a news conference where she outlined funding for a number of Indigenous-led projects tackling food security.
“We’re taking a number of steps to gather data that we will amalgamate at the end,” Chartrand said in reference to the review.
She added the deadline for her department to receive the report is March 31.
Former northern affairs minister Dan Vandal announced the external review of Nutrition North, a food subsidy program meant to address the high cost of food in remote northern communities, in October 2024.
The program, created in 2011, has received criticism that subsidies paid out to northern retailers are not leading to lower food costs.
“We need to do our due diligence in making sure that every single penny of the retail subsidy is going to northerners,” Vandal said when he announced the review.
Former Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk was appointed in February 2025 to lead the review. Nunatsiaq News tried to reach Kotierk for an update on her progress but did not receive a response.
The external review was billed as a chance to allow northerners to provide input for improvements in the program, Kotierk said at the time.
There is still a lot of work to be done after the report is received, Erika Lashbrook Knutson, Chartrand’s press secretary said Friday. The minister is looking forward to reviewing the reports findings, but could not say when or if details would be made public, Lashbrook Knutson said.
