Item - 2025.EX24.3

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the Province of Ontario increase its annual grant funding for the Student Nutrition Program to match the City of Toronto’s current and future investments.

2. City Council request the Province of Ontario provide annual adjustments to provincial Student Nutrition Program funding in consideration of the impact of food cost inflation.

3. City Council reiterate its request to the Government of Canada for increased funding through the National School Food Program to support new and existing student nutrition programs, including dedicated support for infrastructure.

4. City Council amend the Toronto Public Health 2025 Capital Budget and 2026-2034 Plan to create a new capital project called “Universal Morning Meal Program”, with a project cost of $7.492 million and cash flow commitments of $3.800 million in 2025 and $3.692 million in 2026, fully funded by Capital from Current, to administer and support one-time costs related to the accelerated rollout of Phase 3 (Winter 2026) and Phase 4 (Fall 2026) of the Student Nutrition Program, for the implementation of a universal morning meal program.

5. City Council authorize the Medical Officer of Health to enter into agreements and other suitable arrangements with Toronto Foundation for Student Success and Angel Foundation for Learning on behalf of the City of Toronto, for the transfer and administration of the approved 2025 "Universal Morning Meal Program" municipal capital funding to eligible Toronto student nutrition programs on terms satisfactory to the Medical Officer of Health and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

In October 2024, Council directed City staff to report back by the second quarter of 2025 with a vision and strategy for achieving a universal student food program consistent with Toronto’s Cool Food commitments, where a universal morning meal is provided in all Toronto school communities[1] by the 2026/2027 school year and a strategic path to achieving a universal lunch program no later than 2030.

This work resulted in the development of two key strategies:

- A phased implementation plan for a universal morning meal program, targeted for full rollout by the 2026/2027 school year.

- A strategic blueprint for establishing a universal lunch program by 2030.

This report:

- Summarizes best practices and a jurisdictional scan that informed the development of these strategies.

- Provides an overview of the current state of student nutrition programs in Toronto.

- Presents a vision and strategy to guide the development of a universal student nutrition program, including key capital and operating investment requirements. 

- Provides an overview of program governance, administration, and ongoing funding.

- Outlines the framework for ongoing program measurement and evaluation.

The development of the strategy has made it clear that sustained advocacy is essential to closing ongoing funding gaps. While both the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada currently provide funding, their contributions remain insufficient to meet the growing need. To ensure all children in Toronto have access to nutritious food at school, both levels of government must build on their existing commitments with increased, sustained, and equitable investment.

[1] The report uses the term school communities to describe programs delivered in schools, as these programs are not implemented by the schools themselves but by the surrounding community, including parents/guardians, volunteers, and community groups. In some cases, the number of programs exceeds the number of school communities, as some offer multiple student nutrition programs, such as both a morning meal and a lunch program.