Food Security Research Grant

On this page

• About the grant
• Funding and support
• Who is eligible to apply?
• Key dates
• How to apply

About the grant

The Food Security Research Grant will support Indigenous-led projects addressing food security and food access inequality in communities eligible under the Nutrition North Canada (NNC) program.

The grant supports research that will address critical data gaps and increase the evidence base with respect to food access inequality, the dynamics of existing federal food access programs and food insecurity among Indigenous Peoples living in isolated communities.

Indigenous partnership, ownership of information, knowledge transfer, capacity building and the guiding insights from traditional knowledge systems are an integral part of the design of the research grant. All research funded under the grant must either be directed by Indigenous stakeholders or conducted with clear partnerships between academics and Indigenous communities.

The first phase of the grant will run from 2022 to 2024 and will invest $1.5 million to generate new knowledge on the impact of the NNC retail subsidy on food security among Indigenous Peoples in isolated communities, and to inform improvements to the subsidy to support equitable access to store-bought food. Phase 1 will support research in the following research areas:

• collection, consolidation or validation of distinctions-based socioeconomic data across NNC communities
• collection, consolidation or validation of distinctions-based food security data across NNC communities
• investigation through a Gender Based Analysis Plus and distinctions-based lens of who is accessing the NNC retail subsidy, how it is benefiting different socioeconomic groups, and the resulting impact on food insecurity

Proposals submitted under the first phase of the grant must demonstrate how the research, situated within an Indigenous or Northern context, will:

• create definitions of food security, food insecurity, income and healthy nutrition which are culturally appropriate and reflective of local northern or Indigenous norms and realities.
• create socio-economic data including the mixed (traditional and wage-based) economy and the composition and prevalence of different economic family types
• create population-based income data, cost of living data or other economic data in the context of food security permitting a reasonable comparison of Indigenous and northern communities with the southern context

Proposals must be supported by subject-matter expertise in demographics, sociology, economics or statistics.

Funding and support

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) has a total of $1.5 million to support projects until March 31, 2024. The grant will support up to 100% of a recipient's total project costs and can provide a maximum of $250,000 per project. Stacking of funding (such as total government support for a project) cannot exceed 100% of project costs. CIRNAC will strive for an equitable allocation of funding that takes into account the diversity of Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and geography of the communities served by NNC.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants for the grant must meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Indigenous governing body which represents one or more NNC-eligible communities and which can demonstrate an established partnership with an accredited, Canadian post-secondary institution 
• Indigenous organization residing in NNC-eligible communities and which can demonstrate an established partnership with an accredited, Canadian post-secondary institution
• independent researcher or knowledge user who self-identifies as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) and can clearly demonstrate a partnership with one or more Indigenous organizations or NNC-eligible communities
• researcher affiliated with an accredited Canadian post-secondary institution that can clearly demonstrate past research experience and a meaningful and culturally safe partnership with one or more Indigenous organizations and NNC-eligible communities

Additional information on community eligibility and a list of eligible communities.

Key dates

• October 11, 2022: deadline to submit letter of intent
• October 17, 2022: letter of intent notifications and invitation to proceed with full proposal for successful applicants
• February 3, 2023: deadline to submit full proposal
• March 3, 2023: Notification of final results

Funding will be released in late March or early April 2023.

How to apply

If you are interested in receiving more information and learning about next steps on how to apply for Nutrition North Canada's Food Security Research Grant, please contact the program for more information at nutritionnordcanada-nutritionnorthcanada@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca by September 23, 2022.