Still not enough: What the 2026 Spring Economic Update means for food insecurity in Canada

On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, the federal government released its 2026 Spring Economic Update (the Update, for short), a mid-year check-in where the government adjusts spending and taxes based on what’s happening in the economy. The Update sends a clear message that affordability is still a major concern for many.

But if you’re asking a simple question, will this Update help bring down food insecurity across Canada? The answer is not yet and not fast enough.

The Update includes a mix of measures: reiterating the rollout of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB), changes to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to improve access, a temporary gas tax exemption, a commitment to a national food security strategy, funding to support food affordability in the north, and continued investments in housing, including for Indigenous communities. It also includes targeted funding for food programs, including emergency food responses, alongside ongoing efforts to reduce government spending.
Taken together, these measures attempt to provide some relief to households. But given food insecurity affects nearly 10 million Canadians, including 2.4 million children, the approach taken by the government so far is inadequate in meeting the severity and scope of the crisis.

Let’s be clear about the problem

Food insecurity is often talked about as if it’s about food—prices, grocery stores, supply chains, and so on. Yet at its core, it’s about income.

When people have enough stable income, they can handle higher prices. When they don’t, even small increases become overwhelming. That’s when people start skipping meals, buying less nutritious food, or relying on emergency programs.

This year’s Update introduces some targeted supports—benefits meant to help certain groups or respond to specific pressures. But they don’t address the underlying issue because benefit amounts are inadequate, temporary, and/or difficult to access. Temporary and marginal relief is not the same as lasting economic security.

A familiar risk: focusing on food, not income

The government’s commitment to develop a national food security strategy could be a turning point or a missed opportunity. If the strategy focuses mainly on food production, supply chains, and markets, it will likely repeat what we’ve seen before: strong policy rhetoric that doesn’t actually reduce food insecurity. Because again, the issue isn’t just food availability, it’s affordability.

A national food security strategy that works should include a clear income focus: ensuring people have enough money, consistently, to afford the basics. And for Indigenous communities, particularly those in northern and remote regions, it’s about food access. Food insecurity in these communities is shaped by access to land, culture, structural inequalities, and the long-term impacts of colonial policies. Solutions must be Indigenous-led and grounded in those realities.

The Spring Economic Update includes continued investments in northern food programs and broader Indigenous services, including support for food access in remote communities and ongoing housing investments. However, it contains no major new investments in Indigenous-led food systems or food sovereignty.

The trade-offs we don’t talk about enough

The Update continues efforts to reduce government spending through the Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER). On paper, this makes sense. Governments need to spend wisely. But public debates about fiscal restraint and social spending are often treated as abstract budgetary questions rather than decisions that shape people’s day-to-day lives.

When public sector jobs are reduced, or support is tightened, people lose income. And when income drops, food insecurity rises, often quickly.

What makes these choices particularly consequential is that they are unfolding alongside major new defence commitments and broader fiscal restraint elsewhere. The government has signalled billions in new defence spending over the coming years, while the Update contains little major new social investment in areas such as childcare or pharmacare, alongside $1.2 billion in reduced spending on mental health and addiction services.

None of this is to suggest governments should spend without limits. Fiscal sustainability matters. But so does understanding the long-term costs of underinvestment. Food insecurity is associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes, increased strain on the health care system, lower educational attainment, and broader economic instability. Ignoring those realities does not eliminate costs; it simply shifts them elsewhere.

If spending cuts move ahead without stronger protections in place — including better access to Employment Insurance and other income supports — the government risks deepening the food insecurity crisis at precisely the moment many households are already in trouble.

Housing: one area that could make a real difference

If there’s one part of the Update that could have a lasting impact, it is housing. The continued push to build more affordable and non-market housing matters. Housing is often the biggest expense for households. When rent takes up too much of a paycheque, food becomes the flexible cost—the one people cut first.

If new housing efforts actually lead to more affordable options at scale, this could reduce pressure on household budgets in a real way. But as always, the key question is whether these investments will translate into homes that are affordable for people most at risk of food insecurity.

Housing organizations across the country have echoed this point. Groups like the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association and Canada Green Building Council note that while the Update continues to support housing supply, it introduces limited new measures and relies heavily on financing tools and private investment. This raises ongoing concerns about whether new supply will reach low-income renters most at risk of food insecurity.

Furthermore, the Update does not mention the process for a renewed National Housing Strategy, which is a concerning omission given the central role housing affordability continues to play in driving financial strain, homelessness, and food insecurity across the country.

Short-term relief vs. long-term solutions

A clear pattern runs through this Update: many of the measures are temporary. The CGEB increase is time-limited. The gas tax relief is temporary, and so are Employment Insurance supports for seasonal workers. Other supports are modest as well. These measures can ease pressure in the short term, but they don’t create lasting income security.

The government is responding, but not at the scale or speed the situation demands. Across Canada, nearly 10 million people are food insecure. That’s not a marginal problem. It’s a systemic one that demands systemic solutions.

So, what needs to change?

There’s a version of this story where the government is doing what it can, step by step. There’s also a version where the steps are simply too small for the size of the problem. Moving forward doesn’t require a completely new approach. It requires following through on what we already know works:

• Making sure income supports are high enough to cover basic needs
• Turning temporary benefits into permanent, reliable supports
• Making income a central part of any food security plan
• Increasing investment in truly affordable housing
• Supporting Indigenous-led food systems in meaningful ways

None of this is complicated. But it does require commitment. The reality is that we know what drives food insecurity, and we know what reduces it. What we need now is action that matches the scale of the crisis. Until incomes keep up with the cost of living, food insecurity will remain high—and continue to grow.

As we head into Budget 2026, there is a clear opportunity to move beyond short-term relief and commit to lasting solutions. We have outlined some ideas in our pre-budget submission to the federal government. Addressing food insecurity starts with ensuring people have enough income to afford the basics and strengthening Indigenous-led food systems.

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If you’d like to dive deeper, check out our full Spring Economic Update briefing note. To stay connected to our work, subscribe to our newsletter or connect with us on social media.