Ottawa school breakfast program feeding 1,300 more students this September

Ottawa school breakfast program feeding 1,300 more students this September

Ottawa Network for Education adding 15 new breakfast programs

A local non-profit organization is ramping up its school breakfast programing as new data shows more students across Canada are coming to class with an empty stomach.

The Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE) says 25 per cent of households heading back to school are experiencing food insecurity. The organization works with the Breakfast Club of Canada to provide breakfast to kids at school in need.

Director of programs Stephanie Craze says more families are relying on the service than ever before.

During the 2025-2026 school year, just over 22,000 students from 232 local public schools used the ONFE breakfast program every day, an increase of about 6,000 students from the year before, according to the organization.

As a result, ONFE will be adding 15 new breakfast programs in September, which is set to support 1,300 more students.

According to Dennise Yarema, the senior program advisor for Breakfast Club of Canada, breakfast club attendance has gone up across the country, and so have food costs.

“It puts a lot of pressure on the school communities to be able to meet the rising demand,” she said.

ONFE relies on the federal government’s National School Food Program to support its mission, Craze said.

The government announced in June that its program will give meals to up to 400,000 more kids this school year, doubling federal funding to $140 million annually.

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For organizations like the Ottawa Network for Education, every dollar counts, Craze said.

“I don't anticipate this ever going down with the additional schools that are being built every year and additional students being added to the schools,” she said.

“This program is just going to continue to grow.”