Nova Scotia is expanding its affordable school lunch program to secondary schools this September.
Lunches will be available at all 372 public schools in the province for the 2026-27 school year, covering more than 133,000 students.
Rather than using external vendors as in elementary schools, most high schools will manage their own operations.
“The full launch of the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program is an important milestone. More students have access to nutritious meals that help them learn, grow and succeed, while families benefit from lower food costs,” Brendan Maguire, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, said in the release.
The province says the program has served more than 12 million meals, on a pay-as-you-can basis, since its launch in 2024. The program was initially only available to elementary school students, but was expanded to include middle school and high school students this year.
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Earlier this year, the province announced a pilot project to test reusable packaging as a replacement for single-use plastic in some school lunches.
The province’s 2026-2027 school food budget totals more than $100 million. In addition, the province also received approximately $12.4 million over three years through the Canadian government’s National School Meals Program.
The province notes that next year’s menu will include new options such as chicken fried rice, ramen noodles and salads.
Additionally, larger portion sizes will be introduced in secondary schools.
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