With some provincial help, the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) is taking one thing off of parents’ plates by putting more on students’.
Following early 2025 federal cash investments to expand the Alberta National School Food Program Agreement, the Calgary Catholic School District has received nearly $1 million in funding to help put food in bellies.
According to a study published by the Breakfast Club of Canada, nearly 40 per cent of Alberta children live in a food-insecure household, the most in Canada, and an increase of 30 per cent year over year.
CCSD Chief Superintendent, Dr. Bryan Szumlas, said that with the government ramping up food funding, a reality where every student has access to food at school so that they can fuel their brains and succeed in learning is inching closer.
Under the agreement, the district will retroactively receive $308,773 for 2024-2025 and $687,269 for 2025-2026, for a total of $996,042. According to a report shared at the Feb. 4 CCSD Board of Trustees meeting, the full 2024-2025 allocation and 70 per cent of the 2025-2026 allocation must be spent by March 31, 2026. As a result, the district is required to spend $789,861 by April 2026.
How each dollar must be spent is clearly laid out by the government, Szumlas said.
“Ideally, it should be spent on food, so that we get food into the bellies of our students. But we do need infrastructure as well, such as fridges to hold food or stoves to cook the food, as well as personnel to distribute the food and to organize the food programming,” he said during the meeting.
Under their current spending plan, the district is estimating that $381,866 will be for student meals at 119 sites, with administration set to create a tiered system of per student allocations to schools based on the district’s equity schools list. Another $300,000 is set aside for equipment to ensure compliance with provincial food safety regulations. The remainder will be spent on salaries for personnel.
“The government is stepping up and helping out children, and when children are fed, that will also reduce some of the complexity in our schools. It’s not going to rid the challenges that are faced, but a full belly is going to help their minds think better and learn better,” Szumlas said.
The district is required to complete a survey by Feb. 12, outlining how the funding is being allocated, the types of programs offered and the consultations undertaken with parents, students and community partners related to school nutrition, according to the report.
Spending fast, funding will last: CCSD
During the meeting, Dr. Kirk Linton, CCSD Director of Learning Services, said that meal programs are often supported and administered by school staff like teachers and principals, with most food coming from donations. The funding increase will standardize reliable meals and distribution options, but may also be difficult to spend fully.
“It is very exciting to get this funding, and it is a phenomenal opportunity. However, with this funding, it has come very quickly, and it has to be spent very quickly,” he said.
Aside from the costs of food and equipment, a per-school grant system will be created, allowing schools to individualize the distribution of their funding.
“A lot of schools have programs that are already running, so we don’t want to come in and tell them, ‘We’re going to buy you this many granola bars that you have to try and eat by the end of March,’” Linton said.
“We can only buy so much food, and we have a lot of infrastructure needs as well. The good news is that this funding is here, and there is continuous funding into next year as well. The challenge is just having to spend a lot of money really fast, so it’s a good problem to have.”
