By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

February 3, 2025

Over six hundred BGC Club locations across Canada serve nearly 150,000 children and youth. Each Club is being asked to do more to support young people, but they don’t always have the resources they need.

BGC Clubs support communities in key issue areas

During my time with BGC, I’ve had the opportunity to visit almost every one of our 85 BGC Clubs, and two truths stand out: Our Clubs are very dynamic, and they face challenges every day. Yet, repeatedly, Clubs rise above challenges to provide great service in their communities.

While the services provided at each Club look a little different, they all support key issue areas: before- and after-school care, youth employment, youth mental health, food insecurity, and learning, to name a few.

Those 85 BGC Clubs provide six hundred Club locations nationwide and serve 150,000 children and youth. With rising living costs, each Club is being asked to do more to support young people in their communities.

For example, we know that Canadians are facing food insecurity more than ever. From 2018 to 2022, food costs rose by 19.1%. Recent reports show that as of 2023, 1 in 4 Canadian children under 18 live in food-insecure households—that’s 2.8 million young people. Times like these are when BGC Clubs come in.

At BGC Canada, food support means more than just providing snacks

On top of providing nearly 7 million healthy meals and snacks every year, our food programs teach young people food literacy—where food comes from, how to prepare it, and how to make healthy choices. Without food literacy, food security is impossible.

When I visit a Club, food is the hub for everything: it’s the snack the kids gravitate to immediately when coming through the doors. It’s the smell of a hot dinner wafting through the halls for kids and families. And it’s making sure kids have the food they need for their family when they leave each night.

RELATED: BGC Clubs provide kids with basic needs so they can have brighter futures

Our Kid Food Nation and Kid Chef Nation programs were recently re-designed to help young people develop their food knowledge and cooking skills. This means that not only do they get healthy meals from their Club, but they also get skills that set them up for lifelong success.

Read more:

• BGC Clubs want the best for Canadian kids
• BGC Clubs are a modern solution to help parents
• BGC Clubs are a safe ‘third place’

Kid Food Nation winners at our 2021 virtual gala with YTV hosts Spencer & Tyra and Chef Marysol Foucault

TORONTO, ON [October 30, 2021] – Created through the partnership of President’s Choice Children’s Charity, Corus Entertainment, and BGC Canada (formerly Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada), the fifth annual Kid Food Nation national recipe contest asked young chefs aged 7 – 13 to submit original, healthy recipes that highlighted their culture or their Canadian pride.

Along with a prize pack that included a tablet, culinary tools, and a custom Kid Food Nation chef jacket and apron, our winners enjoyed a virtual cooking class hosted by Chef Marysol Foucault and YTV hosts Spencer Litzinger and Tyra Sweet. And as an added bonus this year, each winner will receive a $5,000 grant from President’s Choice Children’s Charity for an in-class food growing system, plus tools and supplies for the winners and their classmates to cultivate their own kitchen gardens at home.

All the delicious winning recipes, including Smoked Meat Bannock Pizza, Greek Bean Burgers with Dill Yogurt Sauce, Stuffed Jalapeños, and Double Potato Pie, as well as a recipe and foreword from Chef Foucault, are featured in the Kid Food Nation Cookbook, Volume 5, available for purchase from the publisher Les Éditions Cardinal.

The national recipe contest is designed to bring awareness to the Kid Food Nation program that runs at BGC Clubs across the country. Generously supported by President’s Choice Children’s Charity, the eight-week Kid Food Nation curriculum has four main goals:

• Teach children ages 7-12 essential culinary skills
• Encourage healthy choices about the food they eat
• Empower parents and families to plan, prepare, and cook healthy meals and snacks
• Foster healthy habits for life

To date, the program has run at 94 BGC Club locations across the country, and it’s working—over 2,500 kids have taken part in the program and 3 out of 4 participants say they tried a new recipe at home.

President’s Choice Children’s Charity is BGC Canada’s most significant nutrition partner. Along with Kid Food Nation, they support Basic Needs Brighter Future, Project Backpack, and Summertime Eat Well—together, the four programs ensure that all 200,000 BGC members eat well and thrive all year round.

Kid Food Nation also consists of a free, public website created by Corus Entertainment, which includes games, videos, tips about healthy eating, fun cooking facts, recipes, and more—see all the action at kidfoodnation.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Jared Morrow
Media Relations Manager, BGC Canada
905-477-7272 x2202
jmorrow@bgccan.com

The Kid Food Nation national recipe contest asks kids across the country to share their love of good food by submitting original, healthy recipes that highlight their culture or their Canadian pride.

From hundreds of entries, we chose 26 winning recipes! The winners will receive a prize pack, participate in a virtual cooking lesson with a celebrity chef, and be featured in our 2021 Kid Food Nation cookbook.

Kid Food Nation is created through the partnership with President’s Choice Children’s Charity, Corus Entertainment, and BGC Canada.

Jonah, 11
Richmond Hill, ON
Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus

Lorenna, 12
(proud member of BGC Dovercourt Club)
Toronto, ON
Lamb Burger in Avocado Bun with Sweet Potato Fries and Slaw

Madeline, 10
Mississauga, ON
Sweet Potato and Kale Coconut Curry

Matilda, 8
Toronto, ON
Apple Crumble Bakery-Style Muffins

Norah, 10
Orillia, ON
Roasted Tomato Soup

Tillie, 13
Ottawa, ON
Healthier Chocolate Truffles

Victoria, 9
Whitby, ON
Barbecued Soy Ginger Chicken with Spinach Salad

Jacob, 12
Saint-Blaise-Sur-Richelieu, QC
Festive Pasta Salad

Owen, 8
(proud member of  BGC Dawson)
Châteauguay, QC
Slow Cooker Peanut Stew

Zana, 7
Fredericton, NB
Greek Bean Burgers with Dill Yogurt Sauce

Stella, 8
Fall River, NS
Wild Blueberry Smoothie

Fiona Rose, 9
Stanhope, PE
Yogurt and Chia Parfait

Ellie, 10
St. John’s, NL
Berry and Lobster Salad