2011–2012: 4th Quarter

• Nutrition North Canada provided almost $15 million in subsidy during January, February and March 2012. This represents about 28% of the program's $53.9 million annual subsidy budget.
• The largest amount of subsidy went to fresh 2% milk, frozen meat, bread, fresh meat, eggs, frozen potato products, yogurt, fresh potatoes, unsweetened juice (containers of 250 ml or less) and bananas. Together they accounted for 48% of the total subsidy amount. These foods receive the program's higher subsidy level.
• Among the items eligible for the lower subsidy level, frozen pizza, fresh unsweetened juice (containers larger than 250 ml), seasoned rice and pasta mixes, ice cream, frozen combination foods and spreads and condiments received the most subsidy (accounting for 5% of the total).
• Medical devices, country food shipped fresh from registered northern processing plants, vitamin and mineral supplements, fresh pizza, nursing pads, country food shipped frozen from registered northern processing plants, and disposable underwear received the smallest amount of subsidy. Together, they accounted for less than one percent of total subsidy payments. Two factors help explain these results: these products had the smallest shipment volumes of all eligible items and most are eligible for the lower subsidy level.
• Ninety-one (91%) of the volume of subsidized products was shipped to retailers with a store in the community. The remaining 9% of subsidized volumes was shipped via direct or "personal" order to individuals (about 4%), commercial establishments like hotels or restaurants (about 3%) and social institutions such as schools and day cares (about 2%).
• Iqaluit, Pond Inlet and Igloolik, Nunavut, and Kuujjuaq and Salluit, Quebec, received the largest amount of subsidy during the quarter. These communities received large volumes of subsidized items and have relatively high subsidy rates.

Data by product category

This table shows the amount of subsidy that was distributed by product category between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2012, and the weight of the products that were subsidized during this period. Product categories are listed in descending order based on the amount of subsidy; the category that received the highest amount of subsidy is listed first, followed by the category that received the second highest amount of subsidy, and so on.

Product category	$ subsidy	% total $	kg	% total kg
Fruit and vegetables (fresh and frozen)	4,269,696	29%	1,485,973	23%
Meat, poultry and fish (fresh and frozen)	2,477,446	17%	927,977	15%
Milk (fresh, UHT and canned evaporated)	2,335,221	16%	908,274	14%
Bread and bread products, cereals, crackers, flour and plain fresh and frozen pasta	1,630,551	11%	658,979	10%
Cheese, yogurt and other dairy products	1,002,558	7%	415,538	7%
Products eligible until October 1, 2012	885,016	6%	895,136	14%
Unsweetened juice	804,106	5%	332,321	5%
Eggs and egg substitutes	613,375	4%	254,756	4%
Combination foods (fresh and frozen)	381,397	3%	235,174	4%
Infant formula and foods prepared specifically for infants	279,871	2%	96,205	2%
Cooking oils, margarine, lard, shortening, butter, mayonnaise and salad dressing	196,619	1%	126,313	2%
Nuts, seeds, peanut butter and other nut butters, tofu and other meat alternatives	61,566	0%	20,160	0%
Non-prescription drugs	4,783	0%	3,873	0%
Country food (shipped from the North)	218	0%	192	0%
Total	14,942,421	100%	6,360,871	100%
Note: Numbers may not add up due to rounding. Last modified: 2012-08-09.

This chart shows what percentage of the total subsidy transfer between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2012 was applied to specific product categories. Because non-prescription drugs and country food shipped from northern processing facilities received less than 1% of the subsidy transfer these categories are not shown in the chart. The chart is based on data in the table above.

Description of chart of Data by Product Category

The pie graph breaks down the total amount of subsidy spending between January 1, 2012 and March 31, 2012, by categories of eligible products as follows:

• Perishable fruits and vegetables including juice: 34%
• Milk and other perishable dairy products: 22%
• Perishable meat and alternatives: 21%
• Bread, cereal and other perishable grain products: 11%
• Perishable combination foods: 3%
• Margarine, oil and other fats: 1%
• Infant formula and infant foods: 2%
• Eligible until October 1, 2012: 6%

Last modified: 2012-08-09.