Government Efforts

Malnutrition in Canada: Unveiling the Need for Priority and Policy Whitepaper

Malnutrition in Canada is a concern, and continues to go unrecognized, undetected and untreated. There is a pressing need to engage in dialogue to raise awareness and to advocate for change.

Malnutrition in Canada: Unveiling the Need for Priority and Policy is a Whitepaper created by CMTF/CNS to outline the prevalence, complexities and consequences of malnutrition, and importantly includes recommendations where governments can take action to benefit Canadians and health systems across Canada.  

Over the coming months, leaders within CMTF/CNS will be meeting with government and healthcare officials and stakeholders to engage in important dialogue to facilitate needed action. We will continue to share our journey and opportunities where our broad network can participate. We are excited about this next phase and the opportunity to work towards positive changes.

We invite you to read this document and share with your colleagues and networks.

Posted October 3, 2024

Download the whitepaper here    Download the recommendations here

New Malnutrition Coding Direction from Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) 

April 1, 2026

Canadian Malnutrition Task Force has been working with Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) to identify the need to strengthen data around malnutrition diagnosis. Effective April 1, 2026 CIHI is mandating the assignment of a code for a documented diagnosis of malnutrition classified within the block E40–E46, regardless of significance. All available documentation, including non-physician documentation, may be used for code assignment. More details are available at Canadian Institute for Health Information Coding direction: Malnutrition. To learn more about the implications of this huge milestone on practice, review CMTF's announcement here.

Petitions for Malnutrition presented in the House of Commons

November 25, 2025

MP Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault from Madawaska-Restigouche, New Brunswick, presented a petition for malnutrition in the House of Commons on November 25, 2025. The petition included recommendations from CMTF’s whitepaper: Malnutrition in Canada: Unveiling the Need for Priority and Policy. 

October 2, 2025

Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen presented a petition in the House of Commons of Canada session to take action for malnutrition- in time for Canadian Malnutrition Awareness Week (Oct 6–10, 2025). The petition announcement was a result of CMTF-CNS meetings with MP Gerretsen and included key recommendations from our Malnutrition in Canada: Unveiling the Need for Priority and Policy Whitepaper.

March 14, 2024

Aging with Dignity Position Statement

Aging with Dignity Bilateral Deals – An Important Investment but lacks focus on food and nutrition

This position statement created by CMTF and CNS explains why nutrition is important to healthy aging, the impact of malnutrition on seniors and encourages the inclusion of food and nutrition in future Aging with Dignity agreements between the federal and provincial/territorial governments.

Letters to Health Ministers

Canadian Malnutrition Task Force (CMTF)  and Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS) have reached out to Health Ministers to urge them to include food and nutrition care in their Aging with Dignity Bilateral Deals. A template of the letters written to the Provincial Ministers is available HERE. 

Follow CMTF on LinkedIn for more updates.