IQALUIT, Nunavut-The federal government is giving Inuit in Canada over half of a $40-million grant for harvesters, and Nunavut Inuit will see the bulk of those funds.

To support food security through traditional harvesting, Inuit communities will get $28.5 million over the next five years through the federal Harvesters Support Grant. Of that, Nunavut Inuit are getting more than $14.8 million.

The Harvesters Support Grant, which is only available to communities that rely on air transportation for more than eight months every year, relies on a distinctions-based design to maximize Indigenous control and decision-making. Because each community has unique harvesting needs and priorities, dedicated grant agreements have been developed to ensure that Indigenous governments and organizations can decide how best to support their own communities. The grant is supporting a wide range of harvesting activities such as:

• transportation and related capital investments

• maintenance of equipment

• harvesting equipment

• temporary shelter and outdoor clothing

• safety and rescue equipment

• training, certification and education

• 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

The grant is meant to fill a gap in the Nutrition North program, which only covers groceries bought in a store-and the store food prices tend to be among the highest in Canada. The grant is designed to help remove the cost barriers Indigenous people face in rural and remote communities as they are harvesting traditional foods, Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal told CBC news.

"Each community has unique harvesting needs and priorities," he said. "There has to be flexibility involved in these agreements. We've made sure that there's enough flexibility to tailor each program."

In Nunavik, the Makivik Corporation is receiving approximately $7.1 million, while the Nunatsiavut government will get about $3.1 million, also over five years, for Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation will receive $3.4 million.

Other funding allotments within the territories over the coming five years include:

• $503,995 for the Thcho government.

• $772,485 for the Sahtu Secretariat Inc.

• $277,275 to the Vuntut Gwitchin.

Money for other northern communities without land claims organizations will be distributed through band councils and community leadership groups.

In a press release, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk said over half of all households in the territory face food insecurity.

"The Harvesters Support Grant is a way for the government of Canada to systemically recognize the valuable role Inuit hunters and harvesters play in the pursuit of a sustainable livelihood in Nunavut," said Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Aluki Kotierk.

"Inuit have always had a harvesting economy," Kotierk said. "One of the things that we're leaning towards is supporting full-time hunters. . . . [The grant] recognizes the value, nutritionally, of country food that we have always and continue to rely on. It gives value to that practice of harvesting country food."

Data gathered by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami shows that over 65 percent of Inuit are harvesters.

Since 2018, a young hunters program, in which elders and experts teach youth how to hunt, properly butcher, skin, and process animals has been funded through Crown–Indigenous and Northern Relations. The ten-week training course runs four times a year and helps people find practical solutions to food insecurity.