BURST
Councillors Peter Fry and Rebecca Bligh have introduced a motion asking the City of Vancouver to reinstate its funding for meal programs in the school district.
Since 2014, the city has provided $320,000 from its annual operating budget to support 3,500 meals each weekday through various programs, including the Food4Schools lunch program, which subsidizes meals to 258 students across 17 schools.
Earlier this month, the city announced a reduction in its funding from $320,000 in 2024 to just $162,500 in 2025, citing “significant budget pressures” and anticipation of “substantive funding” from the province.
However, Fry said, “It has become apparent that the province is not providing the level of funding that was expected.”
In March 2025, the B.C. Government entered into an agreement with the Government of Canada through the National School Food Program (NSFP), which provides approximately $39 million over three years in additional school food program funding. But Fry and Bligh are concerned that the way the province is allocating the money will leave gaps impacting kids in Vancouver.
“There was an expectation that this new funding from the feds was to be distributed by the province and replace the funding the city of Vancouver was providing, but the province had a different funding model in mind.”
Fry said that the funding will be allocated using a provincial formula socioeconomic status index for each school within the district.
The “needs assessment” model “can inadvertently exclude some individuals who may not meet strict eligibility criteria but still experience food insecurity,” said Fry.
Shortly after the city announced their cuts to the Vancouver School District meals programs, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and Nicola Wealth announced a joint donation of $170,000 to make up the shortfall and support the continuation of the Food4Schools program.
“We are very grateful that Nicola Wealth and the Food Bank are doing this,” said Fry, but he said it’s important to ensure the city’s funding is reinstated, and continues on a long-term basis.
“We would like to reinstate the funding so kids don’t go hungry,” said Fry. “I see a lot of hungry kids in my neighbourhood Strathcona, and that contributes to kids struggling in school. It’s about concentration and focus on schoolwork, and when you are hungry, it’s a lot harder.”
According to the 2021 Canadian Community Health Survey , only 22.1 per cent of youth ages 12 to 17 report consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
While it is not normally the responsibility of municipal governments to fund school lunch programs, Fry believes it’s important to keep what was already in place to ensure no child is left hungry.
“We want to position young Vancouverites to do the best they possibly can, and improve their lives and living as best as we can. In the grand scheme of things it’s a relatively small investment for the City,” said Fry.
The motion goes to council on May 7.
— With Vancouver Sun files