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Alberta.ca Account
Part of Health and safety in schools

School Nutrition Program

Students in participating schools will receive a daily nutritious meal that follows the Alberta nutrition guidelines for children and youth.

Overview

The school nutrition program currently helps approximately 58,000 students in participating schools get a daily nutritious meal that follows the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth.

The program provides funding to school jurisdictions to create, continue, or enhance existing nutrition programs in identified schools.

We encourage school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools to work with community partners to use supports and resources in their area. These could include the many successful breakfast and lunch programs already in Alberta schools.

Participating school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools should design a program that consists of one nutritious meal per school day. School authorities can determine what time to offer the meal.

Innovation and best practices in school nutrition

In December 2025, we launched a call for proposals to Alberta non-profit organizations to identify, analyze and document innovative and effective practices in nutrition partnerships between non-profits and school authorities across the province.

The goal is to build capacity and strengthen support for school authorities to deliver high-quality nutrition programming in their communities.

Non-profit organizations could apply for up to $500,000 in grant funding for eligible activities.

Funding

Provincial funding

The Government of Alberta provides $20 million annually in School Nutrition Program Grant funding to school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools who have authority to allocate it to schools to best meet the needs of their students.

For more information on the Alberta School Nutrition Program Grant, please refer to the current Funding Manual for School Authorities.

Federal funding

In March 2025, the Alberta government ratified the Canada-Alberta National School Food Program Agreement, which invests more than $43 million in federal funding over 3 years to provide students with a daily, nutritious meal. The agreement supplements Alberta’s existing annual allocation of $20 million.

Funding under the agreement is distributed directly to school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools through existing School Nutrition Grant processes. This ensures school jurisdictions and eligible public charter schools, who can best identify where the greatest need is, can allocate funding to have the greatest impact for Alberta’s students.

National School Food Program Funding allowable expenditures

Under the Canada-Alberta National School Food Program Agreement, there are 6 funding categories:

  • food
  • personnel
  • infrastructure
  • data/research
  • administration
  • other costs

Resources

Contact

Connect with Alberta Education and Childcare for more information about the Alberta School Nutrition Program Grant or the Canada-Alberta National School Food Program agreement:

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-5394
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]