2022-23 Operating Context

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) supports the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership as part of the journey towards reconciliation. Our goal is to improve access to high-quality services, socio-economic conditions, quality of life, and safety for Indigenous communities. This approach is threaded into our mandate to advance systemic change towards self-determination and self-government of Indigenous Peoples by supporting and empowering Indigenous Peoples to control delivery of their services.

Historically, Indigenous Peoples have experienced disadvantages through the context of systemic and institutional racism. This was highlighted in 2021-22 with the discovery of unmarked graves and burial sites near former residential schools. These continued discoveries underscore that we must move faster on the path of reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. Acknowledgement and redress are required to advance a reconciliation agenda with Indigenous partners. We will continue to advance reconciliation and help Indigenous communities to fulfill their inherent right as a self-determining nation.

We will also continue to work towards our interconnected priorities in partnership with Indigenous Peoples: advancing health, supporting families, helping build sustainable communities, and supporting Indigenous communities in self-determination.

In 2022-23, the health and well-being of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis will remain our primary focus as we continue to deal with COVID-19. Throughout the course of the pandemic, Indigenous Peoples and ISC have adapted to new realities. The pandemic highlighted the necessity and urgency of our work as it exposed challenges in accessing and providing health care. We will draw on lessons learned from the pandemic and continue to support flexible, Indigenous-led measures to improve the health and socio-economic outcomes of Indigenous communities and enable them to address the specific needs, in recognition of their right to Indigenous-led design, delivery, and control of health services.

The Government of Canada recognizes that the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples has been built on colonial structures, which have contributed to the current unacceptable socio-economic gap. While day-to-day realities in Indigenous communities must continue to be addressed directly, there must also be a path to systematic change.

These efforts are only the beginning. In partnership, ISC and Indigenous Peoples will shape the composition of, and services offered by ISC, all the while recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the distinctions among First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nations and communities. The goal is Indigenous-led design, delivery, and control of services.