Support for traditional hunting and harvesting

On this page

• What the Harvesters Support Grant is
• How the grant works
• Who is eligible
• Recipient organizations
• Funding per organization

What the Harvesters Support Grant is

The Harvesters Support Grant increases access to country foods by providing funding to support traditional hunting, harvesting and food sharing in isolated communities. The Harvesters Support Grant is a new addition to the Nutrition North Canada program. It was developed in direct collaboration with Indigenous partners and respects the inherent hunting and harvesting rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Harvesters Support Grant currently provides $40 million over 5 years, and $8 million per year in ongoing funding to Indigenous governments and organizations representing eligible communities.

How the grant works

Because each community has unique harvesting needs and priorities, the grant is designed to ensure that Indigenous governments and organizations can decide how best to support their own communities. Recipient organizations receive funding for communities in their region. Recipients can create programs or other ways to support the communities and harvesters they represent.

The grant supports a wide range of harvesting activities, including but not limited to:

• transportation and equipment like ATVs, boats and snowmobiles
• harvesting equipment
• safety and rescue equipment
• equipment maintenance and repair
• temporary harvesting shelter and outdoor clothing
• training, certification and education
• transfer of traditional knowledge, practices and techniques
• processing, food preparation and storage such as community freezers
• maintenance of harvesting sites
• innovation in harvesting
• community, research, culture and food sharing initiatives

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Who is eligible

To be eligible for the Harvesters Support Grant, a community must:

• lack year-round surface transportation (no permanent road, rail or marine access)
• be reliant on air transportation for more than 8 months each year
• meet the territorial or provincial definition of a northern community
• have an airport, post office, or grocery store
• have a year-round population according to the national census

Thirteen communities eligible for the retail subsidy are not reliant on air transportation for more than 8 months each year, and are not eligible for the Harvesters Support Grant as a result. These communities are on the Quebec North Shore and the Northwest Territories:

• Pakuashipi
• La Tabatière
• Mutton Bay
• Tête-à-la-Baleine
• Harrington Harbour
• Chevery
• La Romaine
• Port Menier
• Nahanni Butte
• Tsiigehtchic
• Fort McPherson
• Inuvik
• Tuktoyaktuk

Recipient organizations

Additional recipient organizations serving communities marked "pending" are in the process of submitting proposals.

Funding per organization

There are 2 streams of funding available to recipient organizations.

Stream 1: Land claim organization and self-government

For communities with settled land claims, grant funding is provided to land claim or self-government organizations. These organizations are accountable to their own citizens for how they use and allocate the funding.

Stream 2: Communities

For communities without a settled land claim, a call for proposals was issued to Indigenous organizations representing eligible communities. The proposals were developed in partnership with the communities and described their harvesting needs and objectives.

These recipient organizations received funding for the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year.

Contact information

If you live in an eligible community, the best way to learn more is to contact your local community leadership.

• If your community does not have a settled land claim or self-government agreement, contact your local band council or other leadership office
• If your community has a settled land claim or self-government agreement, you can contact hunters and trappers organizations, land claim organizations or regional governments directly

For other questions about the Harvesters Support Grant, email aadnc.nutritionnordcanada-nutritionnorthcanada.aandc@canada.ca.