Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) makes payments to Canada Post to subsidize the transportation of food and essential non-food items by air to northern communities in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

INAC paid approximately $29.5 million to Canada Post for Food Mail service provided in 2002-2003 to the 63 communities with 47,000 people that use this program extensively.

In 2002-2003, approximately 10 million kilograms of nutritious perishable food were shipped to these communities – about 14 percent more than the previous year, and almost three times the volume shipped in 1991-1992.

Since July 1993, the rate has been $0.80 per kilogram plus $0.75 per parcel for nutritious perishable food. Higher rates are charged for non-perishable food and non-food items: $1.00 per kilogram in the provinces (in effect since January 1994) and $2.15 per kilogram in the territories (in effect since 1990), plus $0.75 per parcel.

INAC, in co-operation with Health Canada, the Governments of Nunavut and Ontario and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, is conducting pilot projects in three communities to determine whether further reductions in the cost of shipping selected perishable foods, when accompanied by intensive nutrition education and retail promotion of healthy foods, have a significant effect on food consumption patterns and food security in these communities.

The Northern Food Basket (NFB) was developed in 1990 to monitor the weekly cost of a nutritious diet in isolated northern communities for a family of four (a girl 7-9 years, a boy 13-15 years, and a man and woman 25-49 years of age). The NFB proved to be a useful monitoring tool for comparing the cost of a food basket across isolated northern communities and some southern cities in Canada. By now, a data series including more than 75 communities over 14 years has been compiled.

INAC intends to continue using the NFB for one or two more years while introducing a Revised Northern Food Basket (RNFB) developed in 1998, containing more items (68 versus 46). The RNFB is considered to be more culturally appropriate for Aboriginal people, the vast majority of those who benefit from the Food Mail Program, and is better from a nutritional point of view.

INAC is also proposing to make all fruit-flavoured drinks and sweetened juice ineligible for shipment under the Food Mail Program, effective January 1, 2004. The proposed change will simplify the program and focus more of the program funding on healthier alternatives, and is based on the latest evidence regarding the adverse effects of added sugars in the diet.

Details of the proposal are found at:
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ps/nap/air/Fruijui/frujuc_e.html

The last significant change in the lists of eligible and ineligible products was made in August 1996, when non-essential non-food items and high-fat convenience foods such as fried chicken were removed from the program. INAC will continue to honour its commitment to consult stakeholders before making major decisions about the program, including changes in the eligibility of various products.

In partnership with the Air Cargo Transportation Research Group of Université Laval, Canada Post and INAC have launched the Food Mail Quality Assurance Initiative. New guidelines for facilities, handling, packaging, sanitation and inspection are being phased in across the Food Mail network.

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