No evidence Canadian schools restricting meat in sack lunches

Published on October 21, 2025 at 22:55
2 min read
By AFP Canada

Rumors are spreading online that Canadian public schools enacted widespread policies to restrict the type of meats families can pack in their children's lunches, but they are unsubstantiated. The claims appear to have originated from a TikTok video that asked parents to "imagine" such a situation taking place in Alberta province, but the Calgary Board of Education and Edmonton Public Schools told AFP that no such rules are in place.

"Canadian Man Says He Was Told Not To Pack Pork In His Childs Lunch Due To It Being Offensive To Some Children’s Religions," says a widely shared October 14, 2025 post on Instagram.

The post includes a video of a man, sitting beside a child, saying: "Imagine receiving an email from your kid's schoolteacher asking you not to pack pork in their lunches anymore because it has become offensive to some of the children who are in the class."

"It's a school, not a refugee camp," he adds.

Additional posts gained thousands of interactions on Facebook.

Screenshot of an Instagram reel taken October 21, 2025

Dietary guidelines in both Muslim and Jewish faiths restrict consumption of pork, but observation of the custom is not impacted by what other children at the school choose to eat (archived here and here).

While the man in the video does not make clear where in Canada he is describing, the account that originally posted the video to TikTok on October 2, 2025 used the hashtags "Alberta" and "CBE" -- a likely reference to the Calgary Board of Education.

The Instagram post, meanwhile, refers to the Greater Toronto Area.

A spokeswoman for the Calgary Board of Education told AFP in an October 15 email that Alberta's largest school district "does not restrict lunch or snacks provided by a parent for their child."

Kim Smith of Edmonton Public Schools added in an October 21 email that her district "does not have a policy and is not aware of any school rules about what meat can be provided or served to students."

The Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth, provided to schools, explicitly mention recommendations for lean meats, including pork, in some suggested meals (archived here).

AFP also contacted the Toronto District School Board, which governs the largest student population in Ontario, but did not receive a response. The board told the Canadian Press it was not aware of the online rumor.

AFP reached out to the TikTok account that originally posted the video, but no response was forthcoming. The profile appears to have since been taken down (archived here).

The video is reminiscent of a longstanding claim hailing a mayor in Dorval, Quebec for purportedly refusing a request from Muslim parents to remove pork from school cafeterias, a rumor that has been repeatedly debunked.

Find more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail