Finance Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all of the witnesses for being here today.

My question is for Celiac Canada and Melissa Secord.

Melissa Secord, thank you for your advocacy for the 400,000 Canadians living with celiac disease. I chair the all-party Celiac Caucus, and we heard at the breakfast we did a few months ago on the Hill that celiac disease requires a strict, lifelong, gluten-free diet that often comes with a significant cost. Could you explain what challenges individuals with celiac disease face, especially when they're filing their tax returns?

[Melissa Secord]

We're not asking for a new medical expense. The recognition globally is that celiac disease is an autoimmune condition. The struggle that people have in claiming the benefit is that you're eligible for help, but you have to track hundreds of grocery receipts, you have to specifically identify if they're gluten-free, and you have to search online or in grocery stores for comparable, regular products, to compare the increased costs between gluten-free and a regular product. You have to calculate the per gram weight cost difference of these products and deduct if anyone else in the household might be eating that food, and then you upload hundreds of receipts to your CRA account, which can take only a few at a time, so sometimes it takes people an entire day. If they're audited, we've been told they have to send them twice, which means half a day of work uploading receipts.

Savings can be incurred through just a one-time calculation, $1,000 for adults and $600 for children. Similar to what everyone is talking about, we're hearing in the community that one in two families with a child with celiac disease is food insecure, that people are skipping meals, that they're choosing to maybe feed their child instead of themselves, and obviously seniors are at risk. We're hoping with just a refundable tax credit...because, obviously, if you don't have enough income to secure a rebate, you're not getting anything back in your pocket. If it's refundable, it's cash back in your pocket so you can actually afford your groceries and stay out of the food banks.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Do you think this dedicated tax credit will help ease the financial burden and improve affordability for individuals who are living with celiac disease?

[Melissa Secord]

It's definitely a start. Obviously, gluten-free food is more expensive, but it costs a lot more to produce that product. They have to do extra testing and extra validation, and they're unique, specialty ingredients, but this could go a long way in supporting people. Right now, only 30% of the people eligible actually make the tax credit, because it's just so difficult.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Madam Chair, do I have more time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

You have three minutes left in this round. It's up to you two to decide.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

I'll pass it to Dr. Martin.

Thank you.

[Danielle Martin, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Thank you to my colleague for sharing her time.

I wanted to pick up on the submissions from Daily Bread and Right to Food.

Thank you for the very thoughtful recommendations, which I find actually quite complementary and mutually reinforcing. The focus on the link between food insecurity and poverty bears repeating. I think it's something we all understand needs to be part of how we think about food insecurity.

You talk about both the disability tax credit and the Canada groceries and essentials benefit as things on which we could build, as a government, but I wanted to come back.... I'm curious to know, actually, about the relative merits of each, so if there was more time or maybe in further written submissions you could help us to better understand.

On the proposed refundable income tax credit for low-income renters, what's interesting to me about that is that it's less population-focused and would potentially impact a larger number of people. Could you talk to us a bit about why you chose low-income renters as your proposed population and how that interfaces with the food-insecure population?

[Neil Hetherington]

It's easily implemented by the government. You can say to a group that you want to target individuals with a certain income, and whether it's seniors or whether it's the working poor, they're immediately targeted. We know that they are most likely renting. We know that they have a right to housing and that this right is not being realized. Then you are able to have that targeted group and ask what fiscal constraints the government has: Can we allow them to have a $500 deduction per year, or $1,000 or $5,000 or whatever that deduction is per year?

Down south, there is mortgage interest deductibility. Here in Canada, we have the opportunity to bring in a deductibility associated with a specific amount of rental payments made by individuals who we know are a targeted group and who are food-insecure. It's something that the government has the capacity and the ability to do and can implement readily.

[Danielle Martin, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

As a quick follow-up, do you see that as preferable to a further strengthening of the groceries and essentials benefit, and if so, why?

[Neil Hetherington]

It's not an either-or. We have the opportunity to do both.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the witnesses for being with us today.

I'll start with the representative from the Quebec Breakfast Club.

Good morning, Ms. Barry. Welcome.

I'm proud to see you here and proud of your organization's track record. I'm not that old, but I grew up hearing a lot about the Quebec Breakfast Club on television in the morning when we got up. I think your organization has received good support in Quebec. I imagine that, as a co-founder, you've come a long way. I am also proud because your organization's head office is based in my riding, in Boucherville. I have never had the opportunity to visit you, but time will tell.

According to the Observatoire des tout-petits, around 20% of households in Quebec with children five and under were food insecure in 2022. That's quite a lot. It means that we don't really know whether one in five children is able to eat properly.

Do you have more recent data?

How have things evolved since then?

We all know that there is significant food inflation and that households are having to tighten their belts more and more right now.

[Judith Barry]

Thank you so much for your question.

In fact, household food insecurity is recorded in censuses. In Quebec, it is still one in five children, while in Canada, one in four children lives in a household that is food insecure. That is extremely concerning.

At the Breakfast Club, we did go from a provincial organization to a national organization. We now support 5,000 programs in every province and territory, working with community partners. Together, we manage to provide a certain level of quality.

We would really like to support the programs ideally and optimally. With more funding, we can do better. Our country has a lot of resources, and we think that Canada's national school food program should not be considered a social measure, but rather an investment in education, health and the economic resilience of communities. By building bridges with local agriculture, we can truly generate socio-economic benefits.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you for that.

You're saying that you need stable, recurring funding and probably more than what is currently provided.

Right now, the government has made commitments. However, I wonder about that.

In your opinion, is that enough to keep services sustainable and meet needs?

Are the current commitments made on an ad hoc rather than permanent basis?

What will the consequences be for you if the current commitments are not renewed once they are fulfilled?

[Judith Barry]

Thank you for your question.

It is important to note that the federal government was not part of the solution in the past, and that an initial commitment of $200 million per year was truly essential, welcome and necessary.

That said, Canada's national school food program has been made permanent through the National School Food Program Act.

We truly want to build on this solid foundation. We want to ensure that the federal government can also inject more funds into it. Without additional funding from the federal government and all stakeholders—including all levels of government, the private sector and school communities—it will not be possible to achieve universality and provide a nutritious meal to every child in the country.

The goal is to provide them with access to food so that, when they need it for whatever reason, it is available. Above all, this allows young people to learn effectively and develop healthily, learn new eating habits and participate in the implementation of these programs.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you.

Madam Chair, how much time do I have left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

You have one minute left.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Perfect.

You're talking about the need for significant investment. We need to view this precisely as an investment in the future. Currently, the federal government's investment is $1 billion over five years. That was in the 2021 Liberal platform. The Bloc Québécois fought in 2023 to ensure the government's commitment was honoured. We're glad to see that's the case today.

Let's examine the government's priorities. For example, according to the organization Environmental Defence, $10 billion a year is sent in subsidies to the oil and gas industries.

Furthermore, the federal deficit exceeds $60 billion. One billion dollars out of the entire federal budget doesn't seem that high to me compared to existing needs.

Do you think the government really makes this a priority?

[Judith Barry]

Clearly, I think more can be done. The Prime Minister rightly mentioned that Canada's national school food program is a priority.

We are asking the committee to review the funding allocated to the program so that it becomes a budget priority. We must not forget that this is a lever for investment. For every dollar invested, we get two dollars in return.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Ms. Barry.

We're going to continue now with Ms. Kronis for five minutes, please.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Chair, thank you so much.

Thanks to each of you for being here, particularly given that it's World Hunger Day, and for your thoughtful testimonies.

I want to start with Mr. Hetherington.

You mentioned that it took you 20 years to get to one million visits, and then over the past three or four years you've seen an increase of 300% or 400% to over four million visits. You also mentioned a huge increase in people with full-time employment.

I'm wondering if you're also seeing a shift between what I would think of as occasional to regular use.

[Neil Hetherington]

That's a great question.

If I said 20 years, I'm sorry, but I misspoke; it took 38 years to get to one million visits and then just two years to get to two million.

In terms of the shift that we're seeing, the one that is the most concerning, obviously, is with the individuals who have done everything right, who have gone through a post-secondary education and who still need the food bank. That's most concerning.

When it comes to the usage, you can segment it in terms of the group that will arrive just for that emergency: They've lost their job, and they need a break and some assistance. That represents about a third. Then you have more than a third of usage now that is chronic. For example, in Ontario, disability income is about $1,400 a month. Those users have to go to the food bank every single month, and that doesn't change.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

We're seeing the same thing in B.C. It's really not an Ontario problem; it's a problem across the country.

Because I have a limited amount of time, I'll move to Ms. Ramze Rezaee.

You represent 400 food security organizations across the country. Are you seeing or are you hearing from your partners that people are accessing these programs who have never been seen before?

[Jasmine Ramze Rezaee]

It's not quite how you're describing it. I think the severity of the food insecurity crisis continues on. We look at local data from different communities and different organizations, but we also compare that to the national statistics, because Statistics Canada collects national data on food insecurity. We're seeing on the front lines that the severity of the crisis is not abating. It is starting to affect and has affected folks who were traditionally thought of as being safe from food insecurity, and it reflects the general economic precarity that's proliferating in society. This has been going on for at least the past 26 years. It's a non-partisan issue. Food insecurity has accelerated over the course of a generation, and it's going to really take a non-partisan approach and a whole-of-government approach to try to address it across the country.