---
title: "Olivia Chow promises to add full school lunches to Toronto's food program by 2030"
description: "Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced Monday she would expand the city's school food program to include a full lunch for every student if re-elected, saying the plan could save families up to $1,800 per child each year."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/news/olivia-chow-school-lunch-program-october-5"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:10:31.026Z"
---

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced Monday that she would expand the city's school food program to include a full lunch for every student if re-elected, CityNews Toronto reported. The campaign says families could save up to $1,800 per child each year, a figure the campaign put forward at a press conference.

The proposed expansion would build on the existing morning meal program, which already operates at every school in Toronto and provides at least a morning meal to 330,000 students, according to CityNews Toronto. The broader program was expanded under Chow's current administration.

"We will fund it the same way we funded the Morning Meal Program. We will phase it in. Test it, do our homework. We will make it a group project," Chow said at Monday's press conference. "We will work with the provincial and federal governments to make it happen by 2030. When we are done with morning meals and lunches in place, families can save around $1,800 a year, per kid."

The campaign says the program would be funded through contributions from the City of Toronto, provincial and federal governments, and private donors, using the same model as the current morning meal program. CityNews reported that the campaign says more details on implementation and timelines would be released as part of the phased rollout.

## Bradford's response

Mayoral candidate Brad Bradford responded to the announcement, as reported by CityNews Toronto on October 5, 2026. "Today, she talks about a program with no idea how to fund it. No idea of the size of the scope or the expansion of that," Bradford said. He also said that on back-to-back days Chow's campaign has made new announcements.

## Background

Chow said at the press conference that she and former Toronto city councillor and federal NDP leader Jack Layton advocated for universal school meals more than 30 years ago. "Back in 1990, Jack Layton and I made a plan to feed every kid in Toronto schools," she said.

The campaign says the lunch expansion would reduce grocery costs for families and remove the daily task of preparing school lunches. "Prices at big grocery stores just keep rising," Chow said in a statement released by her campaign. "We can save families thousands of dollars a year feeding kids in school."

## When and where to vote

Advance voting is open from Tuesday, October 6 to Sunday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, at two locations in each of Toronto's 25 wards. Voters can find their nearest location at myvote.toronto.ca. You can compare all mayoral candidates at [/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor](/on/toronto-2026/candidates#mayor).

[Olivia Chow's candidate page](/on/toronto-2026/candidates/olivia-chow) and [Brad Bradford's candidate page](/on/toronto-2026/candidates/brad-bradford) list their declared positions and campaign links. Election day is Monday, October 26.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/on/toronto-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.