Eighth Annual (2022) Statutory Report Pursuant to Section 2 of the Indian Act Amendment and Replacement Act, Statutes of Canada, Chapter 38, 2014

Ongoing work to transfer services to Indigenous Peoples

The Government of Canada continues to support Indigenous Peoples on the path toward self-determination, to implement self-determination, and to transition from under the Indian Act. Under the Department of Indigenous Services Act, Indigenous Services Canada is mandated to work towards the transfer of departmental responsibilities to Indigenous organizations. The transfer of services to Indigenous-led control and responsibility is intrinsically linked with the Government’s commitment to advance self-determination, nation-to-nation, Inuit-to-Crown, and government-to-government relationships and reconciliation, including moving past the Indian Act.

The Government has been working with Indigenous partners to advance the process of transferring control over services to Indigenous Peoples. The environment in which the transfer of services is occurring is complex, with many different accountabilities, partners, service areas, delivery mechanisms, funding arrangements and requirements, and linkages with other systems. Indigenous Services Canada will continue to work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to determine pathways forward that reflect unique needs and choices of different communities, including different positions on the Indian Act.

Indigenous Services Canada is also required to report annually to Parliament on progress towards fulfilling its mandate, including the progress made towards the transfer of responsibilities. The second annual report was tabled in December, 2021.

Indigenous Services Canada is working with First Nations partners to develop and implement service transfer strategies that respond to First Nations’ respective needs, priorities, and capacity. Indigenous Services Canada has partnered with an Indigenous organization to explore viable alternatives to the management of estates services currently provided by Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Resurgence LP are industry leaders in consulting on transitional governance. They will provide advice on a change management process to transfer estates services to First Nations care and control in order to transition away from one of the more colonial assumptions practices of the Indian Act and one that touches individuals in a very direct and personal manner.

The Department is also working with interested communities to enhance their management over their finances by leveraging existing legislative authorities within the Indian Act, such as sections 64(1)(k) and 69 to provide for First Nations’ control over their respective capital and revenue Band trust moneys. Since 2006, such applications of the Indian Act have resulted in the transfer of nearly $1.1 billion of capital Band moneys to First Nations. The Department continues to reach out to all First Nations with funds currently held in trust by Canada in order to support additional transfers of Band trust moneys.

For example, in June 2021, the Government of Canada and the First Nations Capital and Infrastructure Agency of Saskatchewan (FNCIAS) signed a historic framework agreement to set out a path for the delivery of housing, capital, and infrastructure services to any participating First Nation reserve in the province.

Health Services

Indigenous Services Canada strives to improve Indigenous health outcomes, provide access to quality health services and support greater Indigenous control of the health system.

This includes the Government’s ongoing work on the 2020 Speech from the Throne commitment to co-develop distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation with First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis Nation. In December 2020, the Government committed $15.6 million over two years to support this initiative. Budget 2021 reiterated the Government of Canada’s commitment to the co-development of distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation with First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis Nation. While engagement on legislation is underway, Indigenous Services Canada advances many other important initiatives to transform health systems and improve health services delivery with Indigenous partners.

Building on Budget 2018 investments, Budget 2021 invested $107.1 million over three years, beginning in 2021-22, to continue efforts to transform how health services are designed and delivered by First Nations communities. The process of Health Transformation supports First Nations organizations and institutions to build capacity towards a transformed, and First Nations-governed health services delivery model that will enable the full transfer of control over federal health services to First nations partners. This will ensure that communities receive health services that are responsive, effective, and culturally safe and that they are empowered to assume responsibility for the design, delivery, and management of health services currently provided by Indigenous Services Canada. This work builds off of the experience and successful full-scale transfer of the Department’s regional health operations to the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia in 2013.

The COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the most serious public health crises Canada has ever faced and highlights the importance of ensuring appropriate health-related measures exist. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, new approaches to service delivery were adopted. Indigenous Services Canada worked with Indigenous communities and provinces and territories to support Indigenous leadership in the public health response to COVID-19 with funding totaling $1.4 billion since the start of the pandemic, including $478.1 million in additional support announced in Budget 2021, and $631.6 million announced in the November 2020 Fall Economic Statement. This funding supports community-led responses such as targeted increases in primary health care resources for First Nations communities, supporting contact tracing, vaccine administration and immunization in Indigenous communities, hiring nurses, helping at-risk people to isolate, procuring, deploying and maintaining surge infrastructure spaces for screening, isolation and accommodations for health professionals and distributing personal protective equipment. In case of outbreaks, this funding can be accessed for surge capacity and additional support for similar services in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

Additional supports to Indigenous communities during COVID-19

Local and regional Indigenous leadership have shown that when given the necessary resources, they are best positioned to respond to this crisis with innovative and proactive measures to ensure the safety of their members.

For example $1.2 billion in investments made through the Fall Economic Statement in 2020 were dedicated to support Indigenous communities. This included allocating an additional $380 million for the Indigenous Community Support Fund to ensure critical support for on-the-ground, community-led solutions to prevent, prepare and respond to COVID-19 would continue.

With this and additional Budget 2021 investments, over $1.8 billion in support has been announced to date through the Indigenous Community Support Fund. This fund provides Indigenous leadership and organizations with the flexibility needed to design and implement community-based solutions.

Additionally, $186.8 million over two years in funding has been allocated to address needs and gaps in long-term care facilities and to provide additional home care in Indigenous communities to protect vulnerable populations from COVID-19.

To date, a wide range of COVID-19 supports have been announced for Indigenous and northern communities and organizations,, including but not limited to: $186.8 million over two years in funding has been allocated to address needs and gaps in long-term care facilities and to provide additional home care in Indigenous communities to protect vulnerable populations from COVID-19; $137.3 million for health and social services support to the Governments of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut; $25 million to enhance the Nutrition North Canada Subsidy; up to $306.8 million in interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions to help Indigenous small and medium-sized businesses; and, $234 million over two fiscal years for Indigenous communities to sustain their businesses and economies through the pandemic.

The Own-Source Revenue in Indigenous Communities Initiative is providing $332.8 million in funding to partially offset declines in own-source revenues so that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities can continue to provide important community programs and services to their members. Own-source revenue has been reduced significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplementing own-source revenues will help communities to continue providing core community services for a safe restart, including in the areas of education, health, housing, water, and community infrastructure.

With these varied supports, and others, the Government of Canada continues to support First Nations individuals, families, and communities across the country meet their needs throughout the pandemic.

Education

The Government is committed to working in collaboration with Indigenous partners to advance Indigenous control of Indigenous education, to support the delivery of programs and services that are tailored to the educational and cultural needs and priorities of Indigenous communities.

The Government is committed to continuing a collaborative approach, working in partnership with First Nations Peoples, and provincial and territorial governments, on transferring the control of First Nations’ education to First Nations communities.

First Nations are best placed to determine how education should be delivered in their communities. Budget 2021 announced $1.9 billion over five years in support of education-related investments and these investments will further advance First Nations control of First Nations education so that students on reserve receive high quality, culturally relevant education.

This includes $726 million over five years and $188 million ongoing in additional elementary and secondary education funding to: refine the regional funding formulas in critical areas (such as transportation); provide stable funding for First Nations operated education programs year to year; and, support the development and conclusion of more regional education agreements.

Budget 2021 also invested $515 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, and $112 million ongoing to support before- and after-school care for First Nations children on reserve. Increasing access to before- and after-school care programming on reserve can help parents and primary caregivers balance work and family, and can also reduce barriers by providing more opportunities for parents to attend a school or enter and remain in the workforce. These investments are in addition to existing Indigenous early learning and child care programming provided by Indigenous Services Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, as well as the Public Health Agency of Canada. Further, they align with the shared priority of supporting First Nations educational achievement by providing enhanced flexibility for families and communities to determine how best to meet their early learning and childcare needs and student support service requirements.

Budget 2021 also proposes to invest $350 million over five years to expand access to First Nations adult education. This investment will help close the education attainment gap and promote access to skills training and employment. By supporting access to adult education, First Nations will be better equipped to support adult learners to return to school and complete their secondary education credentials.

In response to the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada invested $112 million in 2020-21 to support a safe return to elementary and secondary school on reserve, and extended this investment with an additional $112 million through Budget 2021 for 2021-22 so children on reserve can continue to attend school safely. This investment will continue to support the needs of students and education staff, including supporting PPE for students and staff, laptops to support online learning, and more teachers and other critical staff. This funding supports First Nations-led measures for a safe return to schools on reserve.

Child and family services

• affirms the inherent jurisdiction of First Nations, Inuit and Métis over child and family services
• contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and
• establishes national principles such as best interests of the child, cultural continuity and substantive equality to help guide the provision of child and family services in relation to Indigenous children

The Government of Canada is of the view that the Act is an important step toward comprehensive reform and remains committed to pursuing nation-to-nation, government-to-government, and Inuit-Crown relationships based on the recognition of rights, cooperation and partnership with Indigenous Peoples in Canada. To continue in the spirit of co-development, Indigenous Services Canada has committed to continuing to co-develop transition and implementation of the Act with partners. This includes over $542 million over five years announced in November 2020 to support its implementation, specifically to assist Indigenous communities and groups to undertake engagement with their members, start building the capacity needed to establish their own child and family services systems, and be in a good position to enter into coordination agreement discussion tables. In addition, on July 7, 2020, the Assembly of First Nations and the Government of Canada signed a co-developed protocol to establish a structure to further support the implementation of the Act. Additionally, the Government of Canada works with Inuit Tapirit Kanatami and Inuit to identify joint priorities, co-develop policy, and monitor progress through the Inuit Crown Partnership Committee as part of the Inuit permanent bilateral mechanism. The Strategic Work Plan for Implementation of the Act was endorsed at the April 8, 2021 Inuit Crown Partnership Committee Leaders meeting and supports an Inuit-specific pathway to implementation.

As of November 4, 2021, Indigenous Services Canada has received 54 notices or requests under section 20 of the Act and 19 Coordination Agreement discussion tables are either completed, active, or upcoming. Three Indigenous laws are also now in force, the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations Customary Care Code in Ontario, the Miyo Pimatisowin Act of Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan and Asikiw Mostos O’pikina Law. Additionally, there are other Indigenous laws in place that do not yet have force of federal law such as Kitchenuhavkoosib Inninuwug.

Coordination Agreement discussions will take into consideration the purpose and principles of the Act, and will also establish the necessary transition and coordination measures to ensure the effective exercise of jurisdiction by Indigenous Governing Bodies over child and family services. Also, specific fiscal arrangements will be discussed at Coordination Agreement tables in order to secure long-term positive outcomes for Indigenous children, families, and communities while supporting Indigenous groups as they exercise their legislative authority. These funding arrangements will be reviewed with relevant parties on a periodic basis to determine the adequacy of funding, considering inflation, and changes in need.

Amendments to the Indian Act to eliminate sex-based inequities in registration

The Department chose to automatically amend changes in registration categories due to Bill S-3 as it presented a streamlined approach to implementing Bill S-3 without requiring registrants to undergo any further application processes. To date, the Department has amended approximately 125,000 categories of already registered individuals and as result 57,000 individuals are now eligible to transmit status to subsequent generations.

While all known sex-based inequities in the registration provisions of the Indian Act have been eliminated, residual impacts of these historical sex-based laws and policies remain. The Department is responding to these impacts by implementing a range of measures that support the timely provision of rights, benefits and services to newly entitled women and their descendants.

As part of the continued implementation of Bill S-3, the Government continues engagement, communications, and outreach on Bill S-3 in order to reach those newly entitled and monitor impacts. It is also engaging on remedies for remaining non-sex-based inequities in registration.

Lands and economic development

As well, 302 First Nations have opted into the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, allowing them to work with the fiscal institutions and to assert their jurisdiction in the area of fiscal governance. Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No.1 also amended the Act to allow First Nations that are borrowing members of the First Nations Finance Authority to borrow against tax revenues to secure capital for community investments.

The Addition of Lands to Reserves and Reserve Creation Act facilitates the setting apart of land as reserve for the use and benefit of First Nations and the addition of land to reserves. In fiscal year 2020-21 alone, 50 Addition to Reserve proposals were approved, including 12 urban reserve additions. As First Nations select lands to add to reserve or to create new reserves, they are able to increase the number of viable economic and social development opportunities in their communities. Through Budget 2021, the Government of Canada committed $32 million over four years to accelerate work on existing Additions to Reserve requests from First Nations across the country. This funding will enable the hiring of staff to advance and complete a higher volume of additions to reserves, as well as build capacity within Indigenous organizations and First Nations to enable them to take greater control over their addition to reserve processes. ISC also supports First Nations communities to take greater control of their reserve lands. The Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management is a nation-to-nation agreement that Canada ratified in 1999 with the passage of the First Nations Land Management Act. The agreement enables First Nations to opt-out of 44 sections of the Indian Act relating to land management. Through a community-driven process, First Nations develop their own land codes about land use, the environment and natural resources and take advantage of cultural and economic development opportunities with their new land management authorities. In the developmental stage a First Nation is provided funding and technical support to develop and conduct community consultations on the content of their land code, as well as hold a ratification vote on the final land code. There are 193 signatories to the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, of which 99 are land code communities, with 81 First Nations in the developmental stage.

First Nation Election Regulations

The Governance and Operations Directorate continues working with First Nations in the development and implementation of electoral systems outside of the Indian Act. Responsibilities include the preparation of requisite orders removing First Nations from the electoral provisions of the Indian Act and/or adding them to the schedule to the First Nations Elections Act, as well as supporting First Nations in the development of their own community election system through the Policy on Conversion to Community (Custom) Elections.

Leadership selection under the First Nations Election Act

The First Nations Elections Act and First Nations Elections Regulations came into force on April 2, 2015. There are 79 First Nations in Canada currently holding elections under the Act. The Act and Regulations were developed in collaboration with First Nations organizations to make improvements to First Nations election processes.

The First Nations Election Act is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to provide frameworks that support stronger, more stable and effective First Nations governments.

Conversion to community election system

A First Nation that holds its elections under the Indian Act election system may develop its own community election code and ask the Minister of Indigenous Services to issue an order that removes the First Nation from the application of the Act's electoral provisions. Currently, 365 First Nations in Canada hold their elections under a community election code.

Community or custom leadership selection processes are often documented in a community's election code, which provide the rules under which chiefs and councillors are chosen for those First Nations who are not under the Indian Act election rules. These codes vary depending on the First Nation and are often unique to the specific community.

ISC is never involved in elections held under community or custom election processes, nor will it interpret, decide on the validity of the process, or resolve election appeals. The Department's role is limited to recording the election results provided by the First Nation.

When a dispute arises concerning a community or custom election process, it must be resolved according to the related provisions in a community's election code, or by the courts.

Economic prosperity

Economic prosperity and closing of socioeconomic gaps will also be strengthened as the Government of Canada works to renew its fiscal relationship with Indigenous Peoples so as to reinforce self-determination and mutual accountability while ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. Significant work continues to be undertaken to advance the economic well-being of Indigenous communities across Canada. This includes initiatives to support capacity building on reserve and private sector involvement to increase community employment and revenue generation.

One such initiative is the Strategic Partnerships Initiative, a unique Indigenous Services Canada -led federal program with an annual budget of $14.45 million. The Strategic Partnerships Initiative works to increase Indigenous participation in large, complex, multi-year economic opportunities that span a range of sectors and promotes partnerships between a network of 21 federal partners, provincial and territorial governments, and non-federal groups in key economic areas.

The program’s key objective is to increase economic development opportunities for Indigenous Peoples by stimulating partnerships intended to lead to greater participation by Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian economy through the identification of economic and business opportunities, investment in economic infrastructure, and investments and partnerships in economic and resource opportunities, including the creation and expansion of viable businesses. To date, for every dollar of Strategic Partnerships Initiative funding, the Initiative has leveraged $2.92 of additional funding from other sources (nearly $400 million), with over 200 partnerships created.

Fostering the conditions for success of Indigenous-led businesses is critically important to growing local jobs and economies, especially for Indigenous communities in rural and remote areas. Budget 2021 provided $42 million over three years to expand the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program to directly support Indigenous-led businesses and help communities generate wealth through improving access to capital and opportunities. The Budget also provided $2.4 million in 2021 to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to help the Indigenous-led tourism industry recover from losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Budget 2021 also invested $22 million over three years to support the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association’s Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship initiative to increase the number of Indigenous-led businesses owned by Indigenous women. The initiative provides tools, services, and resources to Indigenous women entrepreneurs and will support the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association in achieving its target of increasing women who access financing through Aboriginal Financial Institutions by 50 percent.

Previously announced in 2019, the Indigenous Growth Fund was launched in 2021 and is now open for applications. The Fund is designed to provide capital to Aboriginal Financial Institutions, which will then be accessed by Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs. Its unique structure utilizes initial government investments to recruit additional investors, creating a growing and sustainable fund to provide a long-term source of capital to support continued success for Indigenous businesses.

The significant gap in infrastructure in Indigenous communities can affect overall quality of life, widen socio-economic gaps and reduce Indigenous Peoples’ participation in the economy. The Government of Canada committed $25.9 million in 2020-21 to accelerate the 10-year commitment to closing the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities by supporting the co-development of infrastructure plans with Indigenous partners, which will help pave the way to address critical needs in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation communities. To support early action, $1.8 billion over seven years, starting in 2021-22, will be directed to support community infrastructure priorities. For example, in August 2021 the Government of Canada highlighted the investment of $4.3 billion over four years for the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund. This fund will support immediate demands, prioritized by Indigenous partners, with shovel-ready projects in First Nations, Indigenous Self-Government and Modern Treaty Partners, Inuit, Métis Nation communities, northern First Nation and northern Métis communities, and urban and off-reserve Indigenous communities and organizations. The funding will break down as follows:

- $2.709 billion to support First Nations on reserve

- $517.7 million to support Self-Government and Modern Treaty Partners

- $517.8 million to support Inuit communities

- $240 million to support Métis communities

- $18 million to support northern Indigenous communities

- $194.9 million to support urban and off-reserve Indigenous communities and organizations

As noted, Canada is working to renew its fiscal relationship with Indigenous Peoples to reinforce self-determination and mutual accountability while ensuring sustainable and predictable funding. To that end, Indigenous Services Canada remains committed to building a new fiscal relationship with First Nations that is forward-looking, long-term, reliable, flexible and predictable. The Department continues to implement the 10-year grant, which has been co-developed with First Nations partners like the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Financial Management Board, in order to provide greater long-term financial flexibility and predictability. The Department currently has 10-year grant agreements with 117 First Nations, and will continue to work with the First Nations Financial Management Board to support First Nations in qualifying for the grant and remaining eligible over time. Additionally, Budget 2021 announced the creation of an escalator for funding in 10-year grant agreements, to ensure that funding levels are adjusted to account for inflation and population growth.

Indigenous Services Canada also continues to explore the interim recommendations of the Assembly of First Nations – Indigenous Services Canada Joint Advisory Committee on Fiscal Relations to further advance the new fiscal relationship. This includes: co-development of a mutual accountability framework supported by stronger First Nation-led institutions; continued work with First Nations to replace the Default Prevention and Management Policy with a new and proactive approach that supports capacity development in partnership with Indigenous-led organizations; and, collaboration with Indigenous leaders to finalize a National Outcome-Based Framework, including co-development of baseline indicators, to comprehensively measure and track the closure of socio-economic gaps.

Conclusion

Since 2020, a major focus has been on the pandemic and the work of the health professionals, in particular Indigenous Services Canada nurses who continue to support Indigenous communities across the country to provide quality and culturally appropriate care, testing, contact tracing, prevention and treatment. This work remains paramount as other steps are taken, in full partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to advance self-determination. This includes taking concrete actions to move First Nations beyond the Indian Act.

The highest priority of the Government of Canada remains working closely with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to ensure the health and safety of Indigenous communities as the country continues to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Concrete steps continue to be taken towards a comprehensive transformation of the relationship between the Government of Canada and Indigenous communities. This transformation continues to include new structures and processes, changes to legislation and, most importantly, new approaches to advancing self-determination and the inherent right of self-government.