Backgrounder - The Food Mail Program

The Food Mail Program

Food Mail is a Government of Canada program that pays part of the cost of shipping nutritious perishable food and other essential items by air to isolated northern provincial and territorial communities that have no year-round road, rail or marine service.

The goals of the Food Mail Program are to:

• improve the supply and increase the consumption of nutritious perishable food in Northern provinces and territories; and
• improve the food security, nutrition and health of residents of isolated Northern communities.

The Food Mail subsidy makes it possible for retailers in these communities to sell fresh food and other essential items from the south at lower prices.

INAC’s website provides further details on the Food Mail Program including a map, lists of entry points from where food is shipped, eligible recipient communities and eligible products.

The Food Mail Program Review

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) is currently in the final stages of an extensive review of the Food Mail Program and assessing possible changes to the program with stakeholders. While certain aspects of the Program are regularly examined, the last comprehensive review of Food Mail was in 1994.

This review is taking place in the context of rising food costs and fluctuating fuel prices, which are having an impact on food transportation and production costs, as well as on the expense of harvesting traditional Aboriginal foods. While the review is underway current Food Mail shipping rates and items eligible for shipment will remain unchanged.

The goal of the review is to assess the Food Mail Program’s strengths and weaknesses and identify opportunities for improvements. The review team is evaluating the Program’s operations and considering options to better achieve the program’s key objective, which is to ensure access to healthy and affordable food in isolated Northern communities.

Food Mail Review Interim Report.

The Minister’s Special Representative

The Minister’s Special Representative, Graeme Dargo, was appointed in July 2008 to help provide strategic advice and recommendations to the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs on the future of the Food Mail Program. Mr. Dargo engaged with representatives of the three territories and six relevant provinces and key national Aboriginal organizations and business leaders to discuss the Food Mail Program and how it might be improved.

Food Mail Program Review: Findings and Recommendations of the Minister’s Special Representative

Next Steps

Over the next several months, officials from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada will conduct consultations on possible alternatives to the Food Mail Program and then present a final report with findings and recommendations to the Government in the Fall of 2009.

Submissions or questions on the Food Mail Review may be forwarded to foodmail@ainc-inac.gc.ca.

Additional information can be obtained through the INAC Public Enquiries Contact Centre:

Phone: (toll-free) 1-800-567-9604
Fax: 1-866-817-3977
TTY [ **1** ]: (toll-free) 1-866-553-0554