Evaluating policies to improve food affordability, nutrition and food security in remote communities in Northern Canada

Remote communities in Northern Canada have persistently high rates of food insecurity due, in part, to incomes that are low relative to the high price of food and other goods. The Federal government mitigates food insecurity through income supports – ranging from national entitlements like child benefits to recent region-specific measures like the Inuit Child First Initiative (ICFI) – and through the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) retail subsidy that is intended to lower prices for select foods shipped to remote communities. Using administrative and household survey data, in addition to exogenous variation from recent enhancements to child benefits and retail subsidies, we provide the first systematic quantitative evaluation and comparison of these programs regarding their per dollar impacts on nutritious food shipments and food insecurity, along with an analysis of their distributional effects. Our analysis highlights an important policy trade-off, as current NNC food subsidies are more effective at increasing nutritious food shipments and reducing marginal food insecurity, but child benefits – including both means tested benefits and universal benefits like the ICFI Hamlet Food Voucher Program – are much more progressive and effective at reducing severe child food insecurity.