A volunteer with the Hope Mission hands food to a woman amid a provincewide teachers strike in Edmonton in this recent handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Hope Mission (Mandatory Credit)

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Thousands of students lose school meals during teachers strike

Oct 16, 2025 | 11:07 AM

A provincewide strike by Alberta’s teachers is shining light on the cost-of-living issue in more than one way.

Some non-profit groups say thousands of youths have lost access to vital school food programs and have been going hungry since 51-thousand teachers walked off the job last Monday.

Jared Jorstad, a spokesman for Hope Mission, says he knows one mother who had to go without food for days so her children, who used school food programs, could eat.

Jorstad says the woman reached out to the non-profit recently to get access to the lunches it has been distributing at Edmonton’s schools amid the strike.

A national group that offers breakfast to nearly 40-thousand students across about 300 Alberta schools says it has paused its program during the strike.

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Ryan Baker, programs lead for Breakfast Club of Canada, says he hopes the government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association are able to set aside their differences soon so students can eat again.

The strike affects more than 700-thousand students across 25-hundred schools.

(The Canadian Press)