Attawapiskat First Nation provides Income Assistance benefits to eligible recipients under the Ontario Works program. The First Nation is a provincially-designated delivery agent for Ontario Works, and the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services is responsible to oversee the program. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) provides contributions to the province and to the First Nation to support Ontario Works assistance at the benefit rates established by the provincial government.
 
Attawapiskat First Nation receives more than $600,000 annually through AANDC's National Child Benefit Reinvestment (NCBR) initiative. The First Nation allocates most of these funds toward healthy meals for students in school.
Attawapiskat First Nation receives a subsidy under the Nutrition North Canada Program. The purpose of the program is to improve access to non-perishable and nutritious food to isolated northern communities. To learn more about Attawapiskat subsidy rates, visit: http://ow.ly/qmhqg 

As Nutrition North Canada (NNC) is a retail subsidy program, the subsidy is only accessible when purchasing eligible food from retailers or suppliers registered with the program.

Generally, consumers who are concerned about grocery costs are encouraged to contact their local retailer or direct order provider.  However, if you are not satisfied with their response, you can contact the retailer’s head office. If the head office is a Co-op store, another option may be to participate in the operation of their Co-operative. Members elect the Board of Directors of the Co-op and provide direction to the board on how their business should operate. The Board of Directors is accountable to the members of the Co-op and can be contacted at: http://www.arcticco-op.com/about-acl-directors.htm. For AANDC’s part, the department’s role is to reduce the cost of food to be lower then it otherwise may be and retailers are than accountable to customers to pass on the subsidy.

Many items sold in the North can be more expensive than items in the South as a result of larger geography, smaller communities, transportation, cost of power and wages, and world market trends.NNC does not set the price of food. Rather, NNC provides retailers a set subsidy by item which is intended to reduce the cost of these items to lower than they may otherwise be.

Shoppers who are concerned about current grocery costs are encouraged to contact their local retailer or direct order provider.
We are ensuring transparency and accountability by requiring that retailers and food suppliers:
o   Attest on a monthly basis that claims made under the program are valid and accurate and that the subsidy is being passed on to consumers;
o   Submit invoices and other documents, such as waybills, to support claims;
o   Submit pricing and itemized shipment content reports;
o   Make the dollar value per kilogram for each level of subsidy visible to consumers through in-store signage and on-receipt messages; and submit to audits as required.

At this time, all retailers have succeeded in remaining compliant to the NNC Terms and conditions. NNC values transparency and accountability, as a result, all compliance audits are posted online: http://www.nutritionnorthcanada.gc.ca/eng/1369314171405/1369314181554.

If issues are found during an audit, the auditor provides recommendations, and the retailer or food suppler must address them within a certain time period. To date, the NNC retailers and food suppliers have been found to be complying with the Program requirements. If, however, there were companies who were not compliant, this information would be posted online.

AANDC receives and reviews monthly reports submitted by registered retailers and food suppliers.  This allows AANDC to monitor their compliance with NNC funding agreements.  As well, registered retailers and food suppliers must, at the request of the department, submit to audits of their accounts and records at any time. These measures ensure that information received is accurate and if there are discrepancies, they can be corrected. NNC retailers and food suppliers are also subject to compliance audits and results are posted on the NNC website http://www.nutritionnorthcanada.gc.ca/eng/1369314171405/1369314181554

Sealift and winter roads have always been more economical options for shipping non-perishable items, while air transport is a more expensive option and is best suited for shipping perishable items.

Retailers and suppliers are fully responsible to manage their businesses and their supply chain to ensure fresh food is available for their customers.