Grants to universities and Indigenous institutions for the purpose of research related to food security and its causal factors in isolated communities

1. Introduction

Since the late 1960's, the Government of Canada has subsidized the cost of transporting goods, including food, to isolated communities in the North, starting with Canada Post's Northern Air Stage Program. In 1991, the postage subsidy program was re-named as the Food Mail Program (FMP) and responsibility was transferred to the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). In 2011, the FMP was replaced by the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) Program. The transition from FMP to NNC also marked a shift from a postage subsidy to a retailer-based transportation subsidy. NNC's retail subsidy model was seen to enable retailers to choose the most efficient supply routes, improve product freshness, and increase economic opportunity in the region.

The subsidy has been successful in meeting the program objective of lowering the prices of perishable foods and essential non-food items and increasing the volume of eligible foods being shipped to eligible communities. While the subsidy has played a significant role in supporting market (store-bought) food access, feedback from Indigenous partners continues to be that market (store-bought) food remains unaffordable for most Northerners and the subsidy does not go far enough to support equitable food access and to improve food security in the North.

The rates of food insecurity among Indigenous Peoples living in isolated communities are up to 6 times higher than for the non-Indigenous population in Canada. Indigenous households are also more likely to be severely food insecure. The pervasiveness and the severity of food insecurity among Northern Indigenous Peoples is a long-standing public health crisis and social justice issue. The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs is committed to working directly with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation partners and alongside federal departments and agencies to address food insecurity among Indigenous Peoples in isolated communities.

2. Legal and policy authority

The "Grants to Universities and Indigenous Institutions for the Purpose of Research Related to Food Security and its Causal Factors in Isolated Communities" is established by the Minister of Northern Affairs (the minister') pursuant to the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Act (the act), S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 337.

Section 13 of the act states that:

The powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Northern Affairs extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction — and that are not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada — relating

1. to Yukon, to the Northwest Territories or to Nunavut and its resources and affairs, and
2. policies, directives and programs with respect to the Canadian North.

Section 14 further states that:

The Minister of Northern Affairs is to…

2. develop and implement policies and programs to promote the social, economic and political development of the territories; and
3. foster, through scientific research and technology, knowledge of the Canadian North and the taking of various measures to support its development.

The "North" has been variously defined as the area of discontinuous permafrost, north of the 60th parallel, Canada's 3 territories, and above the Arctic Circle. Increasingly, Northerners are asserting their own definitions. Inuit Nunangat is the distinct geographic, political and cultural region that includes the 4 Inuit land claim regions and spans 2 territories and 2 provinces. Likewise, the provincial North spans many Indigenous regions, each with distinct social, cultural, economic and political dynamics.

In its 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the Government of Canada announced: "To ensure that Northern families have access to affordable, healthy food, including local food, the government proposes to invest $62.6 million over 5 years starting in 2019–20, with $10.4 million ongoing, in the Nutrition North Canada Program. This investment would help to support several Program changes, informed by consultations with Northerners, and to introduce a Harvesters Support Grant to support Indigenous harvesters to engage in traditional hunting and harvesting activities and to support communities in distributing the harvest through food sharing mechanisms".

Budget 2021 proposed new funding to expand the Nutrition North Canada program and enable the Minister of Northern Affairs to work directly with Indigenous partners, including in Inuit Nunangat, to address food insecurity. In addition to increases to the NNC Subsidy and the Harvesters Support Grant, the Budget 2021 investment included the creation of a research component to address critical data gaps and strengthen the evidence base to inform program enhancements and/or redesign in support of equitable access and food security in the north.

3. Purpose, program objectives and expected results

The purpose of "Grants to Universities and Indigenous Institutions for the Purpose of Research Related to Food Insecurity and its Causal Factors in isolated Communities" (the Northern Food Security Research Grant) is to support research that fills critical data gaps and increases the evidence base with respect to food access inequality, the dynamics of existing federal food access programs, and food insecurity among Indigenous Peoples in isolated communities. The research is expected to inform the ongoing evolution of NNC to meet the program's food security mandate. This includes but is not limited to increasing the evidence base to inform the enhancement and/or redesign of the retail subsidy to support equitable access to market (store-bought) food.

This funding authority furthers the departmental objective that Northern and Indigenous communities are resilient to changing environments. It also furthers the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework goal to end hunger by supporting the development and synthesis of new knowledge on food security in isolated communities. This is to be achieved in collaboration with Indigenous communities, in order to strengthen evidence-based policy and program co-development and maximize the impact of the NNC subsidy on food security.

The grant will be deployed in 2 phases, with Phase 1 setting the base by establishing critical, culturally-aligned definitions and methodologies in context of isolated and Northern communities, identifying critical gaps in data and understanding in the Northern context, and by filling critical demographic and socio-economic data gaps.

Phase 1 objectives include:

• creating a standard set of definitions and methodologies to be tested in a subset of NNC-eligible communities which provide a common basis on which to conduct research on food insecurity and its causal factors in the northern and isolated context
• increase availability, quality, and comparability of data related to levels of food security and food access inequality in communities eligible for the NNC program
• increase the understanding of the economic context of NNC-eligible Indigenous/Northern communities

Phase 2 of the grant will build on this foundational work to:

• create new knowledge, in partnership with Indigenous communities, to assess market (store-bought) food access inequality and how the NNC retail subsidy is reaching and benefiting Indigenous residents in eligible communities
• increase understanding of the dynamics of the NNC retail subsidy model, purchasing power and how the subsidy is reaching and benefiting residents of eligible communities
• increase understanding of alternative models and opportunities for program adjustment and reconfiguration to improve food access and food security among Indigenous Peoples in isolated communities

It is intended that the completion of the Northern Food Security Research Grant will achieve the following outcomes:

• inform the update, expansion, and/or redesign of the NNC retail subsidy program to better address market (store-bought) food access inequality and food insecurity among residents of isolated communities

4. Applicant eligibility

The Northern Food Security Research Grant will support Indigenous-led and community-driven projects relevant to food security and food access inequality in communities eligible under the Nutrition North Canada program. Eligible applicants will meet one or more of the following:

• Indigenous governing body: a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and which represents one or more NNC-eligible communities and which can demonstrate an established partnership with an accredited, Canadian post-secondary institution
• Indigenous organization: an Indigenous governing body or any other entity that represents the interests of an Indigenous group and its members residing in NNC-eligible communities and which can demonstrate an established partnership with an accredited, Canadian post-secondary institution
• independent researcher or knowledge user who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and can clearly demonstrate a partnership with one or more Indigenous Organizations or NNC-eligible communities
• researcher affiliated with an accredited Canadian postsecondary institution that can clearly demonstrate a partnership with one or more Indigenous Organizations or NNC-eligible communities

Where the primary applicant is not an Indigenous governing body or Indigenous organization, the applicant must demonstrate:

1. past research experience with meaningful and culturally safe research partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities in isolated communities; and
2. a meaningful and culturally safe partnership with the Indigenous community/communities participating in the research project for the application to be eligible.

5. Subject matter eligibility

Proposals submitted under Phase 1 of this grant must demonstrate how the research will, within an Indigenous or Northern context:

1. Create definitions of food security, food insecurity, income and healthy nutrition which are culturally appropriate and reflective of Northern and/or Indigenous norms.
2. Create socio-economic data in one or more eligible communities which is reflective of the Indigenous and/or Northern context, including the mixed (traditional and wage-based) economy and the composition and prevalence of different economic family types.
3. Create population-based income data, cost of living data or other economic data in the context of food security permitting a reasonable comparison of Indigenous and Northern communities with the Southern context.

Proposals shall be supported by subject-matter expertise in demographics, sociology, economics or statistics.

Proposals submitted under Phase 2 of this grant will, within an Indigenous or Northern context:

1. Create new knowledge relating to cultural food preferences and affordability of nutritious diets within isolated Northern communities.
2. Demonstrate the impact of historic colonial impacts and economic exclusion on food preferences and behaviours of Indigenous people in isolated Northern communities.
3. Demonstrate the impact of poverty on food purchasing power and behaviour with respect to market (store-bought) food choices and nutrition in isolated Northern communities.
4. Demonstrate how they create knowledge of the impact of the NNC subsidy and other NNC programs and their dynamics within the community.
5. Create understanding on how the various economic families access the subsidy, how it impacts them, and what other alternative food sources are leveraged.
6. Demonstrate the impact of supply chain logistics and ownership on food quality, availability and price.
7. Demonstrate the impact of harvesting, informal economies, and pathway to improving access to traditional and market food.
8. Provide an assessment of the existing subsidy, contrasted with alternate models of enhancing food security in isolated communities and make recommendations.

Proposals shall be supported by subject-matter expertise in demographics, sociology, psychology economics or logistics and supply chain management.

6. Type and nature of eligible expenditures

Expenditures, which are, in the opinion of CIRNAC, reasonable and necessary for the recipient to carry out approved projects may include:

• administration fee (maximum 15%)
• communications
• training
• data collection, analysis and reporting
• materials, analytical tools/software licenses, equipment and supplies purchases
• rentals, for example conference and meeting rooms, office space, equipment, storage
• professional fees and services (contracts)
• salaries, benefits and wages for employees and casual workers and honoraria
• travel including meals and accommodations
• postage and shipping

7. Total Canadian Government funding and stacking limits

Total Government of Canada assistance for grants for the same purpose and eligible expenditures shall not exceed 100 percent of total eligible expenditures.

8. Method for determining the amount of funding

The method for determining the amount of funding is based on proposals received.

9. Maximum amount payable

The maximum amount payable to any one recipient for any one project will not exceed $2 million for total project funding. Total funding and funding payments shall be determined based on the budget and time lines of the proposals approved, subject to the limitations described below.

10. Basis on which payments will be made

Grants over $250,000 in total will be payable by installments in accordance with a schedule negotiated between the recipient and Nutrition North Canada. Where the full amount is required in a single payment, it must be demonstrated that that this is required to meet the full objectives of the Grant.

11. Application requirements and assessment criteria

The department will assess the extent to which the project supports and advances the objective of the Northern Food Security Research Grant and Nutrition North Canada research priorities. Meeting the following criteria does not guarantee funding.

12. Due diligence and reporting

The department has in place the appropriate systems, procedures and resources for ensuring due diligence in approving these Grants, verifying eligibility and entitlement, and for the management and administration of these programs.

Recipients are required to submit annually:

1. a financial report detailing the use of grant funds
2. a narrative report which outlines funded activities undertaken, results and outcomes achieved

In the final year of grant funding, recipients are additionally required to submit:

1. a project summary for policymakers, including key findings
2. a project summary for the partner community/communities

CIRNAC respects both the principle of self-determination in research for Indigenous communities (through ownership, control, access and possession of research data) and the principle that research data collected with public funds belong in the public domain. Funding recipients and/or their community partners will retain ownership and control over data and research produced, and will be responsible for publishing, disseminating and mobilizing knowledge developed through funded projects. All research data collected with the use of grant funds must also be preserved and made available for use by others, in consultation with the communities involved, within a reasonable period of time. CIRNAC considers "a reasonable period" to be within 2 years of the completion of the research project for which the data was collected.

The frequency of reporting may be increased based on recipient risk and as identified in the funding agreement schedules.

13. Official languages

Where a program supports activities that may be delivered to members of either official language community, access to services from the recipient will be provided in both official languages where there is significant demand and Part roman numeral 4IV of the Official Languages Act is applicable. In addition, the Department will ensure that the design and the delivery of programs respect the obligations of the Government of Canada as set out in Part roman numeral 7VII of the Official Languages Act.

14. Intellectual property

Where a grant is provided for the development of material in which copyright subsists, conditions for shared rights will be set out in the funding agreement.

15. Other terms and conditions

None.

16. Effective date of terms and conditions

These terms and conditions will come into effect on July 1, 2022.