Earlier this year, Food First NL submitted our pre-budget submission to the Federal Government, including five recommendations. The goal of a pre-budget submission is to influence the budget before it is voted on and finalized.
This year, we were disappointed to see how little progress Budget 2026 makes on advancing Canadians’ right to food. As the list below shows, the Federal Government made no significant progress on any of the items we (and many of our partner organizations) called for.
Our Recommendations Vs. Budget 2026
1. Enhance existing income supports
We asked the Federal Government to:
Make permanent and strengthen the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit
Budget 2026: Not really
Budget 2026 includes a small one-time top-up to the Groceries and Essentials Benefit (GEB). A couple with two children will receive an additional $679 in 2027. For the average Canadian family of four, this would offset around 60% of the increase in their grocery bills estimated for 2026.
This is somewhat helpful. Food insecurity is primarily a matter of insufficient income, so every bit helps. That said, this top-up money is still far below what was originally recommended for the GEB. Also, repeated, unpredictable top-ups like this make it very difficult for low-income households to plan. Canadians need a predictable, permanent benefit for longer-term budgeting.
Strengthen the Canada Disability Benefit
Budget 2026: ❌
There was no increase to the Canada Disability Benefit in this budget, but there were some marginal increases to related programs: the Medical Expense Tax Credit and the Disability Supports Deduction. While these two changes will help put some money back in the pockets of individuals, it still will not hit the full targets we hoped to see.
2. Strengthen investments in school food
We asked the Federal Government to:
Relaunch the School Food Infrastructure Fund
Budget 2026: ❌
In our pre-budget submission, we noted that this fund could be a part of Canada's investment in capital infrastructure while also supporting organizations’ ability to support school food programs.
While there is no specific school infrastructure fund, the budget does increase the amount of funding for the Local Food Infrastructure Fund from $20m/year to $40/m a year, which will continue for the next three years. Some school food programs may be able to access these funds.
Double the National School Food Program investment from $200 million to $400 million per year
Budget 2026: ❌
Funding for the National School Food Program remains stable, but that still isn’t enough for that program to make the most impact.
Provide $20 million for the Buy Canadian in School Foods Program
Budget 2026: ❌
Given the ongoing efforts to encourage buying Canadian, this is a missed opportunity to integrate two big public policy goals.
3. Resource and engage with the movement to create a basic income in Canada
We asked the Federal Government to:
Work with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to develop a basic income pilot for Newfoundland and Labrador
Budget 2026: ❌
Move forward on a Demonstration Project on Prince Edward Island
Budget 2026: ❌
The budget does not mention basic income and, in general, does not pursue innovative income support program options.
4. Set targets for food insecurity reduction
Budget 2026: ❌
Even with a new National Food Security Strategy prominently featured in the budget, the federal government still has not set actionable targets for lowering the number of food-insecure households. The budget does, however, include a 10-year target to eliminate homelessness. This signals that this kind of target-driven policymaking is still possible.
5. Support and strengthen Indigenous food sovereignty
Budget 2026: Minimal
Budget 2026 has almost nothing to say about Indigenous Food Sovereignty, except for a funding increase to Nutrition North Canada of $610.3 million over four years, starting in 2027-28. This increase will be followed by another $118.1 million in 2031-32, and $117 million in 2032-33 onwards. Most of the Nutrition North funding is used to subsidize sending southern foods to the North. However, some is used towards hunter and harvester support programs, which play an important role in Indigenous food sovereignty. Some of this increased funding will expand the geography of Nutrition North to include previously excluded communities, but this will not impact Newfoundland and Labrador.
Analysis
Aside from the lack of progress on our recommendations, there are some positive measures in Budget 2026 when we look at it through a right-to-food lens. It makes the Canada Workers’ Benefit more accessible, provides small amounts of cost-of-living relief in a few places, and continues progress towards a system of automatic tax filing that will result in social benefits reaching more people. That said, we are very concerned with the continued use of one-time top-up benefits that provide no predictability to the folks who rely on them.
Food also shows up in a big way through the reiteration of the commitments made in the National Food Security Strategy. Visit our blog post for an in-depth analysis of that strategy. The short version: there are important investments coming that will help Canada produce and distribute more food, but very little coming to ensure that people can afford to buy it.
Perhaps the biggest bright spot in the budget is that we now have a clear target to end homelessness in ten years. We know that our housing crisis is intimately linked to our food insecurity crisis; lifting people out of homelessness will likely have a significant impact on their ability to afford food. That said, there is reason to be skeptical about the government’s ability to meet this target. We are currently set to miss the national poverty reduction targets for 2030 by a wide margin.
Looking at the way Budget 2026 frames its approach to housing and food, it’s also clear that the federal government is trying to pick a lane, and that lane is infrastructure. There is big spending coming to build new housing and help food organizations buy equipment. However, the federal government explicitly looks to provinces, municipalities, and philanthropy to operate all these things, with no increase to federal social transfers. That means that federal funds will be left on the table (i.e. not used to support Canadians), unless these partners — particularly provincial governments — step up in a big way with significant, sustained operating funds.
It’s also important to look at the budget in context. The vast majority of this budget’s investments are related to providing industry with additional tax breaks and equipping the military. There is a “rising tide lifts all boats” logic to it — but we risk overlooking the fact that many “boats” have holes in them that this budget does little to patch. Overall, Budget 2026 provides financial predictability and a growth horizon for business and defense investment, but not for people struggling to access food.
With that in mind, Food First NL will continue to advocate for a budget that would truly advance the right to food. That would mean significant, predictable, long-term increases to people’s incomes (ideally, a basic income), deep investments in Indigenous Food Sovereignty, further investment in the National School Food Program, and setting rigorous targets for reducing food insecurity. We know what works — what’s missing is the will to do it.
Resources
Our partners and leaders from across the country are still releasing budget analyses. Here are some of the resources helping us dig deeper:
Federal Budget 2026 (Government of Canada)
Budget 2026: Canada goes all-in on corporate profits (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Whose destiny? Budget 2026 falls short on tackling food insecurity and poverty (Right to Food)