Indigenous Food Insecurity
National data from Statistics Canada’s surveys show high rates of food insecurity among off-reserve Indigenous Peoples. The situation is likely even worse given the underrepresentation of Indigenous communities in these surveys. This page aims to provide an overview of additional surveys on household food insecurity among Indigenous communities.
Updated: 2024-09-04
Measuring Indigenous food insecurity through CCHS and CIS
Indigenous Peoples refer to the original inhabitants of Canada and include Inuit, Métis, and First Nations living on- and off-reserve. National data on Indigenous Peoples and household food insecurity in Canada primarily come from the cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and now, the Canadian Income Survey (CIS). However, the CCHS and CIS exclude individuals living on-reserve, and thus data from these surveys do not represent the experience of First Nations people living on-reserve, who represent nearly half of status First Nations peoples in Canada.
The monitoring of household food insecurity in Canada has long shown high rates of food insecurity in the territories, particularly Nunavut. However, since the start of monitoring food insecurity on the CIS, Statistics Canada has reported data on the territories separately from the provinces and has not made the data available to researchers yet. The latest release of territorial data from the CIS can be found at, “Canadian Income Survey: Territorial estimates, 2022“.
Like other indicators for Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, including the poverty rate, Statistics Canada reports the national rate of food insecurity based on the 10 provinces. Although the small populations in the territories mean their exclusion has little effect on national estimates, food insecurity in the territories must still be a priority given the scale and severity of the problem. Off-reserve Indigenous Peoples are underrepresented in our latest report due to the lack of data on those living in the territories.
Household food insecurity in the North
Surveys of remote Northern communities, such as those in Nunatsiavut and Nunavik, reveal exceeding high rates of household food insecurity. People living in these communities are likely underrepresented in CCHS and CIS data due to limited survey coverage and sampling. Although the food insecurity statistics from these surveys are not easily comparable due to methodological differences, food insecurity among Indigenous People is likely even worse than it appears in national estimates from CCHS or CIS data given the underrepresentation.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national representative organization for Inuit in Canada, has launched “Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey”, a permanent Inuit-led survey that would reach all communities in Inuit Nunangat and support their Inuit Nunangat Food Security Strategy.
The following are links to results and reports from surveys of food insecurity among Indigenous Peoples in different regions at different times and for different subgroups. The statistics on food insecurity may not be comparable to that from CCHS or with each other due to differences in methodology or measurement tool used.
