Food insecurity in Northern Canada: Exploring the opportunities and challenges

A disproportionate volume of households in Canada's North lack physical and economic access to adequate food to sustain a nutritious diet. In 2018, Statistics Canada reported that 12.7% of all Canadian households are food insecure, meaning at least 4.4 million individuals in Canada lack safe, sufficient, and nutritious food on an ongoing basis. Yet, these percentages are much higher in the North, with rates of 16.9%, 21.6%, and 57% in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut respectively. The policy problem this project seeks to address is that, despite the implementation of several government programs to address this crisis, access to nutritious and affordable food sources remains a significant challenge for Northern residents. This project intends to provide a policy perspective on this issue, which has seldom been provided in academic and non-academic spaces. A literature review and jurisdictional scan are conducted to guide an understanding of food security and sovereignty, including the origins, challenges, and ongoing utilization of these terms within the realm of existing government initiatives, and to foster a deeper understanding of the causes, consequences, and ongoing dynamics of the current food crisis in Canada's North. A multi-criteria analysis is then conducted to assess several policy options that seek to address this complex problem and a policy bundle is then recommended based on this analysis.