The Nutrition North Canada Program has added dozens of communities to the food subsidy program, and Fort Chipewyan is one of those added. The program helps subsidize the cost for food shipments because the communities are remote or difficult to access so the cost of shipping food in must be considered in the final cost. A number of tehse communities can only be reached by air during much of the year. According to Grand Chief of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta and the Mikisew Cree First Nation leader Chief Steve Courtoreille “It’s been a long time coming and disappointing it’s been overlooked for so long, holding us at the mercy of high food prices. In a community as far north as ours, getting nutritious food has been a struggle for seniors, for the sick and for those on fixed-incomes. It’s unfortunately been like that for years.”

Fort Chipewyan is the only Alberta community to be added to the Nutrition North Canada program, the rest of the added communities are from other provinces. Chief Courtoreille said “I can’t stress how vital this is for us. Our next step is to look at how this will work and how we can distribute cheaper healthy food, but this is a big deal.” The Fort Chipewyan community will hopefully gain better access to fresh foods which are healthy, like fresh fruits and vegetables, which can be offered at reasonable prices. It is hoped that this in turn will help lower the rate of diabetes and obesity for the entire community, promoting better choices and a healthier style of eating.