For many Indigenous communities in Canada, food insecurity is a major, ongoing problem. A variety of factors, from poverty, the COVID-19 pandemic, government inaction and climate change, exacerbated by both historical and ongoing discrimination faced by Indigenous Canadians, have played a role in the creation of this crisis.
Socioeconomic factors and prevalence
Indigenous peoples are at a higher risk than non-Indigenous peoples to experience food insecurity. Food insecurity is directly linked to being in a low-income household, and Indigenous people on average experience higher amounts of income inequality than non-Indigenous peoples. A November 2019 report found that 48% of First Nations households were food insecure, with provinces such as Alberta having numbers as high 60%. First Nations children, in particular, experience major food insecurity.
Accessibility and availability
In one community (according to one 2002 study), it was the consensus that the price of market foods in a northern community were very high, and that there needed to be government-implemented policies that would help lower the cost of food in more remote locations. By the 2020s, food insecurity still remains a major issue for Inuk people, as it was noted that food prices were still unsustainably high, despite attempts by Canadian government agencies to lower them. In 2022, Manitoban First Nations also expressed concerns about dealing with rising food prices.
Other barriers for obtaining a steady diet of traditional food include hunting equipment costs, transportation, and a lack of knowledgeable hunters and fishers are just some of the reasons consumption of traditional food has proven to be difficult. The use of land using non-traditional techniques, such as those found in mining and logging, affect the availability of appropriate food sources. The main concern of the community was the loss of knowledge of traditional food practices between generations. Younger members of the community are not being taught to hunt, fish, gather or prepare the traditional foods that their ancestors ate and that are integral to a strong and healthy community. Increased development also leads to changing animal migration patterns as well as decrease in animal population and this again will influence the amount of land-based food that can be obtained through traditional ways. The location of an Indigenous community has a large impact on the prevalence of food insecurity in that particular place. Northern communities are at a greater disadvantage than Indigenous communities that are located close to urban centers. The price of market food is higher in more remote communities because of transportation costs. Certain Inuit communities are even more disadvantaged than others because climatic changes that affect hunting and fishing have only been recorded in certain communities.