OTTAWA, June 20 -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday unveiled the federal government's policy to deliver the National School Food Program across the country.

With an investment of 1 billion Canadian dollars (730 million U.S. dollars) over five years, the program will provide meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programs, according to a news release from the prime minister's website.

On average, the program is expected to save participating families with two kids up to 800 Canadian dollars (584 U.S. dollars) a year in grocery bills, the release said.

The program includes investments that will support school food programming for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities as well as Self-Governing and Modern Treaty partners, many of whom have some of the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada, the release said.

According to Statistics Canada estimates, in 2022, 22.3 percent of families and more than 2.1 million children under the age of 18 in Canada reported experiencing some level of food insecurity over the past 12 months.

  - Xinhua