EDMONTON— More than 58,000 Alberta students will get a little extra fuel for their brains during the 2026/27 school year, as the Government of Alberta plans to announce a confirmed $17.6 million in federal funding for the Alberta School Nutrition Program. The Western Standard has learned that Alberta's Ministry of Education plans to confirm the spending on Friday as part of the previously announced Alberta-Canada National School Food Program agreement signed in March 2025. When combined with the $20 million in spending allocated by Alberta in Budget 2025, the federal funds will bring the nutrition program's 2026/27 allotment to $37.6 million.This planned funding will go ontop of the $20 million from Alberta and $17.4 million spent by the federal government towards the Alberta School Nutrion Program in 2025/26. .Research from the Brookings Institution found that students at California schools in 2017 who qualified for reduced-price or free lunches saw a 40-percentage-point increase in test scores compared to before receiving the lunches. Funds from the Alberta School Nutrition Program can go towards food, which is projected to receive over $12.7 million from the federal spending, as well as personnel, infrastructure, data/research, administration, and other costs.Alberta Health Services estimates that more than 33% of children live in households facing food insecurity.Schools will receive funding based on factors such as enrollment and the jurisdiction's socio-economic status. .Canada's government has spent significant resources on provincial school food programs across Canada, including over $1 billion in direct funding since 2024, an additional $1.3 million already spent on research into the program's effectiveness, and announced a larger $12 million grant in April. Alberta’s government is in the midst of collecting data on the impact of program funding, and a report on the matter is due by Jan. 31, 2027.
