Nunavut has the highest rate of child poverty and the highest rate of food insecurity of any Canadian province or territory. In 2022, around 80 per cent of Indigenous children aged between one and 14 in Nunavut lived in households experiencing food insecurity. In 2018, the rate of childhood food insecurity in Nunavut was almost six times higher than in Canada as a whole. The Hamlet Food Voucher Program, funded through the Inuit Child First Initiative (ICFI), has recently offered some relief. This program gives families funds for groceries to meet the nutritional needs of Inuit children. However, ICFI funding only runs until March 31, 2025. With Parliament prorogued, plans for further funding remain uncertain. That means starting April 1, many Inuit children in Nunavut may again go hungry. The Canadian government can make sure that does not happen by extending funding for ICFI and the food voucher program.Long-term effects of food insecurityFood insecurity can have harmful, and sometimes lasting, impacts on a young person’s physical health, mental health, academic performance and cognitive development. Infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable because they are completely dependent on adult caregivers whose physical and mental health can also be impacted by food insecurity.Recently, food security initiatives in Nunavut have been funded through the ICFI, which was launched in 2018. ICFI was meant to be a temporary measure to help families access essential services while an Inuit-specific framework is being developed. Nutrition support for children has been one of the most requested services under ICFI. Initially, each family had to submit extensive documentation, and often faced months-long delays before receiving services and supports.In 2023, municipal governments in Nunavut began to request, and receive, ICFI funding for nutrition supports for all Inuit children in their community. By December 2024, all but one community received funding for Hamlet Food Voucher Programs. These programs provide $500 per child for groceries and an additional $250 for children under four.High grocery costsThe support provided through the Hamlet Food Voucher Program is significant, but $500 covers far less in Nunavut than in southern Canada. Groceries must be brought to Nunavut by plane or ship, and most communities have only one or two grocery stores. Accordingly, despite efforts to reduce prices through programs like Nutrition North Canada (NNC), the cost of groceries in Nunavut is much higher than in the rest of Canada.Grocery prices in Nunavut are also rising much faster than in the rest of Canada. Our research shows that, between 2022 and 2024, the cost of a basket of goods in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut’s largest region, rose by 26 per cent (compared to 13 per cent across Canada) and is now more than double the average cost in Canada.Even food subsidized through NNC is far more expensive: four litres of milk cost $9.95 in Qikiqtaaluk compared to a Canada average of $5.10. Prices for other items can be even higher: a February 2025 video from the hamlet of Grise Fiord shows a jar of jam selling for $35, pickles for $66 and a six-pack of apple sauce for $58.The high rate of food insecurity in Nunavut reflects a vast gap between household incomes and the money required to support a basic standard of living. Nunavut saw sustained income growth between 2005 and 2019, and a declining percentage of people receiving social assistance. Still, employment rates remain lower than in other territories. In 2023, the median income for households with two adults and two children was just under $36,000. This was around 40 per cent of the $89,420 needed for a two-adult, three-child family living in social housing in Iqaluit to afford the “modest, basic standard of living” represented by the official poverty threshold. The social assistance available to low-income Nunavut families is comparable to that in provinces with a lower cost of living. Even with $1,000 a month in food vouchers, a family of four making the median income remains far below the “deep poverty” threshold of 75 per cent of the official poverty line.An Inuit-led solutionWe have been interviewing service providers, grocery store employees and people co-ordinating Hamlet Food Voucher Programs. The interviews are part of an ongoing research project we are working on in collaboration with Sindu Govindapillai and Dheeksha Reddy from Qupanuaq, a service co-ordination program operated by the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation, and research team members Kelly Mitchell, Mohammad N. Khan, Josee G. Lavoie and Tracey Galloway.Interviewees tell us that, because of the program, fewer people go without food and more families can cover rent, utilities and other necessities. People also told us that families are eating healthier, children are going to school more often and are more engaged when there, and families are less stressed. Other programs and services that were previously busy addressing food-related crises can now focus on providing medical care, fostering learning and keeping children safe.The people we interviewed also make it clear the Hamlet Food Voucher Program is not enough to solve the problem of food insecurity in Nunavut. They stressed that food security initiatives must be paired with supports for healing, well-being and life-long learning. Inuit plans for addressing poverty include such supports. They also include measures to increase community decision-making, reform income assistance, increase access to housing and strengthen local economies.Until such a framework is fully implemented, the Hamlet Food Voucher Program must remain in place. Nunavut families currently face record levels of child poverty, rising food prices and a potential North American trade war that would further drive-up costs. Losing food voucher support would be catastrophic for many households, particularly those with young children. The Canadian government must support Inuit leaders working toward a long-term solution to food insecurity in Nunavut. By funding the Hamlet Food Voucher program in the interim, it can help ensure that the children of Nunavut do not go hungry.The ongoing research described in this article is funded by the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. Financial support for this research was provided by CN and Mr. Dan Einwechter through the Einwechter Centre for Supply ChainManagement, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityNicholas Li receives funding from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development Grant that helped support this research.Jessica Penney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.