2023-24 Reporting on the Calls for Justice: 4.1 - 4.8: Human Security

Budget 2022 Inuit housing investments are delivered to partners by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada for self-determined housing delivery. Inuit Treaty Organizations make housing prioritization decisions based on Inuit determined needs. Inuit housing investments align with Calls for Justice 4.1 as the overall goal of these direct investments and the implementation of the Inuit Nunangat Housing Strategy is to improve housing outcomes in Inuit Nunangat in line with outcomes for the rest of Canada.

As housing and infrastructure development takes considerable time in Inuit Nunangat, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada awaits partner reporting on their self-determined delivery for confirmation on the specific impact of these recent investments.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $845 million/7 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Inuit Treaty Organizations; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7, 16.18

Budget 2022 housing investments support Métis-led housing projects to be directed by Métis-determined needs and priorities. In doing so, it can support Calls for Justice 4.1 (access to safe housing). Each Métis partner conducted its own housing needs assessment and developed a plan to address the needs of its citizens. Most Métis partner's housing programs include:

• Home stabilization services (e.g. rent subsidies);
• Home improvement loans which provide one-time forgivable loans for needed renovations;
• Home buyers contribution plans which provide assistance with down payments and closing costs;
• Emergency repair programs to provide aid on an emergency basis;
• Establishing housing corporations to buy and hold land or buildings such as Elders lodges and apartment buildings

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $190.0 million/7 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Canada-Métis Nation Permanent Bilateral Mechanism; Métis National Council; Manitoba Métis Federation
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7

Funding provided through Budget 2022 housing investments are administered directly by Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada does not have direct control or oversight over the expenditures of Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations. Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations may expend funds on services and infrastructure for their membership to respond to Call for Justice 4.1.

To support Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has delivered all funding from the Budget 2022 Housing Investment for Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations for the 2023/24 fiscal year through transfers in their fiscal arrangements. All funding in 2023-24 was transferred to Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations who are empowered through their agreements with Canada to deliver housing and infrastructure programming to their citizens in ways that meet their objectives under self-determination.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $565 million/5 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7

The Action Research on Chronic Homelessness (ARCH) in part responds to Call for Justice 4.1 by providing funding to support the development and implementation of best practices, tools, and services that can contribute to prevention and reduction of Indigenous homelessness, including by enhancing accessibility and culturally appropriate supports and services. In addition, this initiative supports Calls for Miskotahâ 8, 18, 23, 25 and 26 by providing distinctions-based funding to Métis partners to address homelessness.

Additionally, ARCH supports calls oriented towards ensuring long term certainty for Indigenous partners through supporting community level research projects. This research enables parties to address barriers to preventing and reducing chronic homelessness, for example by developing and testing new services or programs; by forming new partnerships or data sharing agreements within communities; and by piloting new tools or initiatives such as supportive housing for women or high acuity individuals. One objective of the research is to adapt and share findings to enhance approaches to ending chronic homelessness at the community, provincial/territorial and federal levels.

Through the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness initiative, Infrastructure Canada is working with, and supporting the following priority areas of study, including enhancing Indigenous supports:

• In Fredericton, NB, identifying ways of preventing discharges into homelessness from the correctional system and develop ways to best support those leaving or who have left correctional institutions by applying an Indigenous lens. The project embeds Indigenous community-based organizations within the leadership of the project and ensures that Indigenous research practices and protocols are utilized in design, implementation, and evaluation processes.
• In Hamilton, ON, building, implementing and evaluating an Indigenous Cultural Capacity and Accountability Frameworks for the community's Coordinated Access System. This framework will enable the development of key tools and structures to formally embed Indigenous knowledge, culturally supportive practices, and data governance principles into program delivery and system coordination. The goal of the action research component is to identify and assess the processes and relationships necessary to advance collective accountability to Truth and Reconciliation within a community's Coordinated Access System while contributing to an evidence base for other communities and sectors that may be interested in adopting similar processes.
• In London, ON, developing and testing an Indigenous-led and informed Coordinated Access System's effectiveness in reducing homelessness in the Indigenous population. The goal is to improve the understanding of how an Indigenous-led approach to the Coordinated Access System will benefit Indigenous people and most importantly lead to the reduction of Indigenous Homelessness. The project will also increase the data quality of Indigenous homelessness in Homelessness Management Information System, as well as the accessibility of Coordinated Access services for Indigenous people and improve awareness of Indigenous-led culture based best practices for homeless serving organizations.
• In Sudbury, ON, implementing a system that allows youth to transition more easily from child welfare services to adult services, with a focus on outcomes for Indigenous youth and decreasing Indigenous homelessness.
• In Whitehorse, YK, examining the underlying factors contributing to the rise of homelessness in the North through engagement with community partners, stakeholders, and Self-governing First Nations governments, as well as those with lived and living experience. The project will result in better understanding of the by-name list as a tool to prevent and reduce homelessness and optimize the allocation of limited housing, income and support resources.

Lead Department: Infrastructure Canada
Funding Amount: $18.1 million/3 years, beginning in 2022-23
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Select Reaching Home funding recipients receiving funding under the Designated Communities, Territorial Homelessness, and/or Indigenous Homelessness streams; Local Indigenous partners; Select provinces/territories; Infrastructure Canada representatives; National Indigenous Homelessness Council; and Local community partners
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 18, 23, 25, 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 12.4, 18.25

Budget 2022 provided $4 billion over seven years, starting in 2022-23, including $2.4 billion over five years to support First Nations housing on reserves. This initiative responds to Call for Justice 4.1 through targeted funds that work to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have services and infrastructure that meet their social and economic needs including access to safe housing. Since 2016, and as of December 31, 2023, Indigenous Services Canada has supported the construction, renovation and retrofit of 18,668 housing units and the acquisition and servicing of 3,324 lots, divided as follows:

• 5,875 new unit constructions, 2,832 of which are completed,
• 12,793 unit renovations and upgrades, 6,096 of which are completed,
• 3,324 lots acquired and serviced, of which 1,500 are completed.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $2.4 billion/5 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Community-based partners; Regional and national partner organizations; Assembly of First Nations; First Nations; First Nations organizations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7, 18.25

Significant and continued investments through Budget 2021, Budget 2022, and the 2020 Fall Economic Statement have been made to improve the infrastructure and the retention, recruitment, and capacity building of water and wastewater operators working on reserve. Collectively, these investments response to Call for Justice 4.1 by working towards ensuring that all Indigenous Peoples have access to clean drinking water in their communities. Operations and maintenance funding has been regularized and, by 2025, new investments will represent nearly a 400% increase in funding on a permanent basis compared to 2015.

As of December 8, 2023, in 2023-24, 6 long-term drinking water advisories and 26 short-term drinking water advisories were lifted. Initiatives are underway in the 26 communities to resolve the remaining 28 long-term drinking water advisories.

Indigenous Services Canada also continues to support water and wastewater operator initiatives both nationally and regionally. For example, Indigenous Services Canada spends approximately $24 million annually to provide First Nations water and wastewater operators with hands on training and 24/7 technical support through the Circuit Rider Training Program to ensure First Nations can operate and maintain their water and wastewater infrastructure. Over 750 operators are supported and trained in approximately 540 First Nation communities across the country.

Indigenous Services Canada has also funded a total of $499,817 for the Native Women's Association of Canada's Water Carriers project: Engaging Traditional Knowledge to Build Capacity beginning in 2022 through to 2023-24. The two-year project, rooted in traditional knowledge, seeks to empower Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ people as protectors of the water, and amplify the voices of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ people in their role as water carriers. The first year involved a series of traditional Sharing Circles. These Circles will provide the opportunity for the Native Women's Association of Canada to gather regional perspectives from all thirteen provinces and territories, including data and knowledge on traditional water teachings, information surrounding access to clean water, and grassroots experiences of the diverse impacts of climate change, particularly in relation to water, felt in each of Canada's provinces and territories. The second year focused on Indigenous education and knowledge sharing including a website for the Water Carriers project.

Further, every year Indigenous Services Canada presents the National First Nations Water Leadership Award and for 2023 it involved having the most women ever nominated at 4 out of 30. Even though there is much work to do, that accounts for 13% of the nominations (n=30) while women only represent 8% of the water operator on reserve workforce. Communications and program will work together to increase the number of women nominated in 2024.

In December 2023, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-61, an Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nations lands. Bill C-61 would affirm the inherent right of First Nations to self-government. It would ensure that First Nations have more tools necessary to protect source water and maintain drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in a self-determined way. It would hold the federal government accountable to continued funding investments in water infrastructure. It would also lead to the application of minimum standards for clean drinking water in every First Nation and lay the groundwork for the creation of a First Nation-led water institution to support communities. Indigenous Services Canada continues to support First Nations in addressing the remaining drinking water advisories.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: Fall Economic Statement 2020: $1.5 billion / until 2023-24 and $114.1 million ongoing; B21: $1.1 billion / 2 years (2022-23 to 2023-24); B22: $247 million / 2 years (2022-23 and 2023-24)
Funding Source: Fall Economic Statement 2020, Budget 2021, Budget 2022
Partners: Community-based partners; Regional and national partner organizations; Assembly of First Nations; First Nations; First Nations organizations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: N/A

The work of the Reaching Home program in part responds to Call for Justice 4.1 by providing dedicated funding to support culturally appropriate services that seek to prevent and reduce Indigenous homelessness. This initiative supports calls oriented towards supporting Indigenous partners to co-develop distinctions-based plans to address critical Infrastructure gaps and to improve socio-economic conditions to provide an opportunity for a good life and a safe, stable environment for Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. In addition, this program supports Calls for Miskotahâ 8, 18, 23, 25 and 26 by providing distinctions-based funding to Métis partners to address homelessness.

This program follows a community-based approach, with direct financial support to communities allowing flexibility to respond to local challenges and priorities by investing in a range of interventions, including programming designed to meet the needs of vulnerable populations (e.g. women experiencing violence, people fleeing family violence, Indigenous people, the 2SLGBTQI+ communities, etc).

The program has two funding streams specifically for Indigenous peoples, though Indigenous communities and organizations can apply to other funding streams where eligible. The Distinctions-based Approaches stream is a national funding steam providing dedicated funding to address the specific and unique needs of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness through National Indigenous Organizations, as well as Modern Treaty Holders. The Indigenous Homelessness stream provides funding for the delivery of Indigenous-specific homelessness programming in 30 urban communities and 7 regions across the country for off-reserve, pan-Indigenous supports.

Eligible activities under the Reaching Home program include client support services including individualized services to improve integration and connectedness to support structures, such as basic needs and treatment services. Services may also include economic, social and cultural integration support for individuals and families.

Economic integration services eligible activities include:

• Income assistance: services directed towards individuals and families to help them access income benefits (for example, provincial/territorial social assistance, child benefits, disability benefits, Veteran allowance, old age security, or employment insurance).
• Employment assistance: pre- and post-employment services (for example, job search assistance, interview preparation) that bridge individuals and families to the labour market and assist them to maintain employment and build self-sufficiency.
• Education and Training assistance: services to support essential skills development (for example, reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, thinking, computer use and continuous learning), services to connect individuals and families to education and training programs, and services to support the successful participation in these programs (for example, bus passes, clothing or equipment, food and non-alcoholic beverages, internet access for the duration of the program).

Social and community integration services eligible activities include:

• Supports to improve social integration, for example, costs of participation or provision of recreational/sports activities.
• Indigenous Elder consultation, gathering and preparation of traditional foods, and establishing and maintaining culturally relevant responses and supports to help Indigenous individuals and families (for example, navigation of urban services including to help establish and maintain culturally relevant support networks within an urban environment; Indigenous language and culture classes)

Capital investments are intended to increase the capacity or improve the quality of facilities that address the needs of individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness, including those that support culturally appropriate programming for Indigenous individuals and families.

To support communities in responding to unsheltered homelessness, the Government of Canada provided approximately $100 million in 2023-24 towards emergency winter funding for many communities supported by Reaching Home. This funding helped communities respond to urgent needs – particularly associated with rises in unsheltered homelessness, including encampments - and to bolster local supports and services for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the winter.

Reaching Home communities could use funding to support their winter responses to keep people experiencing unsheltered homelessness safe and find a more stable place to stay, including leasing spaces to expand shelter spaces; time-limited rental assistance; providing extra meals and warming spaces; and hiring outreach workers to connect people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to available supports.

In addition to the $4 billion over nine years from 2019-20 to 2027-28 that has been allocated to Reaching Home, as announced in Budget 2024, $1 billion over four years from 2024-25 to 2027-28 is proposed to stabilize funding for Reaching Home.

Lead Department: Infrastructure Canada
Funding Amount: $4 billion over 9 years (beginning in 2019-20)
Funding Source: $2.1 billion from 2019-2020 to 2027-2028 (Budget 2017); $409.2 million in 2019-20 and 2020-21 (COVID-19 emergency funding); $299.4 million in 2021-22 (Fall Economic Statement 2020); $567.2 million in 2022-23 and 2023-24 (Budget 2021); $562.2 million in 2024-25 and 2025-26 (Budget 2022); and, approximately $100 million in 2023-24 (departmental reallocation for unsheltered homelessness). Additionally, $1 billion from 2024-25 to 2027-28 is proposed in Budget 2024.
Partners: Provincial and territorial governments; National Indigenous Homelessness Council; National Indigenous Organizations (Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council, Manitoba Métis Federation, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) and their affiliated organizations; and, Reaching Home Community Entities and Community Advisory Boards (includes 37 communities and regions across Canada under the Indigenous Homelessness stream); Modern Treaty Holders with provisions in their treaties related to the delivery of social services; Other partners within the housing and homelessness sectors
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 8, 18, 23, 25, 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 12.4, 16.1, 16.18, 16.19, 18.25

The National Housing Strategy is currently a 10-year, $82+ billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Launched in 2017, the Strategy includes a range of complementary programs and initiatives that address diverse needs across the entire housing continuum, including through programs to build and repair housing. These support the housing needs of households across Canada, including Indigenous Peoples, and contribute to supporting social and economic needs. Meeting the housing needs of Indigenous communities is a priority under Canada's National Housing Strategy. Projects serving the needs of Indigenous peoples and families are prioritized for funding under many National Housing Strategy programs. There is also programming and funding exclusively for Indigenous and Northern housing.

Lead Department: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $82 billion over ten years, starting in 2017-18
Funding Source: Various
Partners: Provincial and territorial governments; National Indigenous Organizations, and their affiliated organizations; Indigenous governments and organizations; non-profit organizations; municipal governments
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 25 and 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7, 12.4, 16.18 and 18.25

Indigenous entrepreneurs face significant systemic barriers which include lower average incomes, remote locations, infrastructure gaps, lack of digital access, lower accumulated wealth, incomplete credit histories and lower financial literacy. Many of these barriers are a result of colonialism, land dispossession, discriminatory policies and programs. Indigenous women entrepreneurs face further unique barriers such as added family responsibilities; lack of experience and confidence in dealing with lenders and financial institutions; lack of programs/support specifically targeting Indigenous women; and, systemic barriers to accessing male-dominated fields.

To help address these barriers, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) designed and implemented the Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship (IWE) initiative which includes gender-specific and culturally appropriate tools and resources for Indigenous women to undertake entrepreneurship to build or grow a business. The IWE includes activities such as a mentorship program, microloans, a role model campaign, gender bias training, training and hiring Business Support Officers and workshops on various entrepreneurial topics such as management and organizations tools and writing business proposals.

The IWE is delivered through NACCA's partners, the Indigenous Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Métis Capital Corporations (MCCs). The initiative is available to any Indigenous women across Canada and any IFI or MCC can participate. The IWE has been well received by the partners and has also generated interest from Métis partners to possibly develop a distinctions-based initiative to support Métis women entrepreneurs more specifically. Overall, this initiative has improved access to capital and accessibility for entrepreneurs.

The IWE and the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program (AEP), which increases access to capital for Indigenous entrepreneurs, advance Calls for Justice 4.2 and Call for Miskotahâ 8. Calls for Justice 4.2 asks governments to uphold the rights of Indigenous women and girls to have services and infrastructure that meet their social and economic needs. Call for Miskotahâ 8 requires action on the part of the federal (and provincial) government to eliminate the social and economic barriers that create disparities between Métis women and other women in Canada. The IWE and AEP provide Indigenous women with a path to entrepreneurship through targeted and untargeted economic supports for Indigenous women entrepreneurs. The programs specifically aim to eliminate the barriers and answer the needs of these groups in order to reduce the economic disparities and uphold Indigenous women's socio-economic rights.

The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association website has publicly available, one-page profiles on some of the Indigenous women entrepreneurs who were supported through the IWE. In these profiles, many of the entrepreneurs mention how the initiative and support from IFIs and MCCs were integral factors in building or expanding their businesses and thus improving their lives and reaching their goals.

Below are three examples of entrepreneurs supported by this program:

• Inuit woman entrepreneur: Bernice Clarke (PDF)
• First Nations woman entrepreneur: Miranda Currie (PDF)
• Métis woman entrepreneur: Alex Ibbitson (PDF)

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $22 million/3 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA); Indigenous Financial Institutions; Métis Capital Corporations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 8
Related Calls for Justice: N/A

Through Budget 2023, the Government of Canada is providing $95.8 million over 5 years, and $20.4 million annually on an ongoing basis to expand support for Indigenous families of missing and murdered women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people (MMIWG2S+) in accessing information about their loved ones, enhance community supports to ensure that families of MMIWG2S+ have access to community-based, Indigenous-led support to assist them with the grief and trauma of their loss, and to enhance the availability and accessibility of services and supports for Indigenous victims and survivors of crime.

Indigenous agencies and organizations have the best knowledge on how to move forward. Not only are they aware of the intersectional barriers that Indigenous victims face when accessing services and supports, they also have the best knowledge on how to overcome them. In recognition of this, and as part of Budget 2023, $38.6 million over 5 years and $8.45 million annually on an ongoing basis was announced to create a new funding initiative entitled Supporting Indigenous Victims and Survivors of Crime (SIVC). This funding responds to Calls for Miskotahâ 20, 21, 22 and Calls for Justice 4.3, 5.6, 16.29, 16.39 and 17.28 because it supports a wide range of Indigenous-led and co-developed activities that will support and assist Indigenous victims of crime and survivors of violence across Canada, including Indigenous victims and survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Following the Budget 2023 investment, a call for proposals will be launched in late spring or early fall of 2024 to support a wide range of Indigenous-led and co-developed projects. This will support Indigenous victims and survivors of crime and new justice system partnerships to better meet the needs of Indigenous victims and survivors of crime within the criminal justice system.

Lead Department: Justice Canada
Funding Amount: $38.5 million over 5 years and $8.45 million annually ongoing
Funding Source: Budget 2023
Partners: Indigenous-led organizations supporting Indigenous victims and survivors of crime and their families; Co-developed, Indigenous-supported programs delivered by non-Indigenous entities (e.g. enhancement of culturally accessible provincial and territorial victim services); Organizations that provide culturally responsive supports to Indigenous victims and survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 20, 21, 22
Related Calls for Justice: 5.6, 16.29, 16.39, 17.28

This initiative supports Calls for Justice 4.4 related to government-supported, equitable access to education, amongst other items, for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, by providing support for comprehensive educational supports for First Nations children on reserve.

Building on the implementation in 2021-22, Indigenous Services Canada expanded the scope of before- and after-school programming to include a wider number of First Nations students living on reserve, including those attending provincial and private schools.

• On April 1, 2019, Indigenous Services Canada implemented a co-developed policy and funding approach for First Nations education on reserve. In this approach, students in First Nation schools on reserve are supported by predictable core funding comparable to funding in provincial education systems, plus common investments to meet First Nations' specific needs. These common investments include additional funding for language and culture, full-day kindergarten, and before and after-school programming.
• Budget 2021 invested $515 million over five years, and $112 million ongoing to support before- and after-school care on reserve.
• Increasing access to on-reserve before- and after-school programming is expected to support parents and primary caregivers in balancing work and family, and could also reduce barriers by providing more opportunities for young parents to attend school or enter and remain in the workforce.
• Building on the implementation in 2021-22, Indigenous Services Canada expanded the scope of before- and after-school programming to include a wider number of First Nations students living on reserve, including those attending provincial and private schools.
• Indigenous Services Canada continues to implement these investments on an ongoing basis (currently implementing year three of before- and after-school programming) and continues to engage with regions and First Nations partners to discuss lessons learned from early implementation of before- and after-school programming and direction/expectations for the future.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $515 million/5 years, and $112 million ongoing (starting in 2021-2022)
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: First Nations recipients funded through the Elementary and Secondary Education Program; Self-governing and modern treaty First Nations (where eligible)
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 2.3

In 2022-23, ISC's Elementary and Secondary Education Program provided funding to help support First Nations in the delivery of over 500 First Nations-administered education programs nationally. The Program funded approximately 114,150 First Nations students ordinarily resident on reserve to attend First Nations-administered schools, as well as provincial, private and federal schools.

Budget 2021 investments provided supports to enhance funding formulas in critical areas such as student transportation; ensure funding for First Nations schools remains predictable from year to year; and increase First Nations control over First Nations education by concluding more regional education agreements.

Indigenous Services Canada has implemented the Budget 2021 funding announcements for on-reserve education. As a result, First Nations children are being better supported through the new funding approach for kindergarten to grade 12 schools on-reserve, with an approximate 80% national funding increase between 2015-16 and 2022-23. In addition, in 2022-23, almost 94% of students attending First Nations administered schools were taught at least one subject in a First Nations language, and over 8,000 students were also provided with access to full-time kindergarten in First Nations-administered schools.

Indigenous Services Canada continues to implement these investments on an ongoing basis. Engagement with First Nation partners on the implementation of these new investments are ongoing through established regional technical tables as well as the Assembly of First Nations' National Indian Education Council and the Ontario Chiefs' Committee on Education. Indigenous Services Canada also continues to work with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to engage with self-governing and modern treaty First Nations.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $726 million/ 5 years and $188 million ongoing (starting in 2021-22) (In addition to existing, ongoing underlying Program funding)
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Assembly of First Nations' National Indian Education Council and Chiefs' Committee on Education; Self-governing and modern treaty First Nations (where eligible); First Nations recipients funded through the Elementary and Secondary Education Program
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 2.3

Beginning in 2022-23, funding for adult education was mobilized to support First Nations communities to support adults on reserve and in the North in completing or upgrading their secondary education credentials.

Implementation and expansion funding will continue over the course of the next 5 years so First Nations can develop their own Adult Secondary Education programs to support First Nations students on reserve, and in the Yukon and in the Northwest Territories. Additionally, adults are newly eligible to be on the Indigenous Services Canada Elementary and Secondary Education nominal roll in all regions starting in fall 2023, which will drive enrolment-based instructional funding beginning in 2024.

Adults are now eligible to be on the Indigenous Services Canada Elementary and Secondary Education nominal roll in all regions as of fall 2023, which is a new development in Alberta, Atlantic, and Saskatchewan. As a result, new supports and resources for educational opportunities for adults are now in place.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $350 million/5 years (2022-24 to 2026-27)
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Assembly of First Nations; First Nations on reserve and in the North; Self-governing and modern treaty First Nations (where eligible)
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: N/A

Through Budget 2022, the Government of Canada invested an additional $310.6 million over 5 years to better support elementary and secondary student outcomes through a regional education agreement with the Quebec First Nation Education Council (FNEC). FNEC's Regional Education Agreement, signed on July 14, 2022 and developed for 22 Quebec communities, not only reflects self-determination principles but is also based on more than 10 years of work by the First Nation's Education Council and its member communities to design and develop an education funding model that is responsive to the specific needs and priorities of the communities' students, such as implementing Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods in classrooms. As committed to in the agreement, ongoing discussions between the Parties continue through an Executive Committee.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $310.6 million/5 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: First Nation's Education Council and their member communities in Quebec
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.34

The First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy (FNIYES) is a component of Economic and Social Development Canada's Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS). The strategy aims to help young people, particularly those facing barriers to employment, get the information and gain the skills, work experience and abilities they need to make a successful transition into the labour market. FNIYES responds to Call for Justice 4.4 by supporting employers to hire and retain students aged 15-30 who are First Nations living on reserve or Inuit living outside of their land-claim areas to gain skills and knowledge relevant to gaining meaningful employment.

FNIYES is a proposal-based program that provides funding under two streams:

• the First Nations and Inuit Skills Link Program, which helps First Nations and Inuit youth acquire essential skills that will assist in gaining employment, help them function well in the workplace, and learn about job and career options; and,
• the First Nations and Inuit Youth Summer Work Experience Program, which provides students with career, learning and labour market information to assist with gaining summer employment.

Since FNIYES's launch in 1997, it has provided thousands of opportunities to First Nations and Inuit youth. Approximately 600 First Nations and Inuit communities design and implement projects each year. Additional funding for the First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy was announced in Budget 2021 and has been implemented in the 2023-24 allocations. Work to modernize the Terms and Conditions of the First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy following an engagement process is currently underway.

The Income Assistance First Nations Youth Employment Strategy (IAFNYES) pilot responds to Call for Justice 4.4 by supporting First Nations communities and Indigenous organizations to provide paid mentored work placements and on-the-job training to First Nations youth including Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people- between the ages of 18 and 30 in receipt of Indigenous Services Canada's Income Assistance benefits. The main objective of the pilot is to help First Nations youth acquire and enhance their skills and gain employment, reducing long term dependency on Income Assistance. The pilot collects data on gender and age but does not collect data on sexual orientation.

Since 2021, the pilot has provided funding to over 103 First Nation communities/Indigenous organizations for a total of $100.2 million. One of these First Nation communities, Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba supported 58 youth in 2022-23 through Income Assistance First Nations Youth Employment Strategy funding. Norway House Cree Nation partnered with Workplace Education Manitoba and the Local Initiative for Transition to Work program to provide training to youth by a certified local retired teacher, with subsequent participation in mentored work placements.

As of December 2023, for the current fiscal year, 70 First Nation communities and Indigenous organizations have received funding for Income Assistance First Nations Youth Employment Strategy mentored work placements and on-the-job training. Successful proposals for fiscal year 2023-24 have been funded to support First Nations and Inuit youth in work placements that allow them to acquire the skills, learning experiences and opportunities they need to find and maintain employment or return to school.

Following the completion of fiscal year 2023-24, the department expects to be able to share specific examples of projects that took place during the previous fiscal years (2021-22 to 2023-24). This will be bolstered by qualitative feedback provided by participants, where possible, to better understand what supports and resources would be helpful to support First Nations youth, including Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, secure employment and training opportunities or pursue education.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $80.1 million/1 year (2021-22) (Fall Economic Statement 2020); $28.8 million/1 year (2022-23) (B21); $100.2 million over three years to extend the IAFNIYES pilot project for 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25
Funding Source: 2020 Fall Economic Statement, Budget 2021
Partners: First Nation communities and organizations; Income Assistance recipients and clients
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 1.1, 16.21

Budget 2022 Inuit housing investments are delivered to partners by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada for self-determined housing delivery. Inuit Treaty Organizations make housing prioritization decisions based on Inuit determined needs. Inuit housing investments align with Calls for Justice 4.1 as the overall goal of these direct investments and the implementation of the Inuit Nunangat Housing Strategy is to improve housing outcomes in Inuit Nunangat in line with outcomes for the rest of Canada.

As housing and infrastructure development takes considerable time in Inuit Nunangat, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada awaits partner reporting on their self-determined delivery for confirmation on the specific impact of these recent investments.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $845 million/7 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Inuit Treaty Organizations; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7, 16.18

Budget 2022 housing investments support Métis-led housing projects to be directed by Métis-determined needs and priorities. In doing so, it can support Calls for Justice 4.1 (access to safe housing). Each Métis partner conducted its own housing needs assessment and developed a plan to address the needs of its citizens. Most Métis partner's housing programs include:

• Home stabilization services (e.g. rent subsidies);
• Home improvement loans which provide one-time forgivable loans for needed renovations;
• Home buyers contribution plans which provide assistance with down payments and closing costs;
• Emergency repair programs to provide aid on an emergency basis;
• Establishing housing corporations to buy and hold land or buildings such as Elders lodges and apartment buildings

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $190.2 million/7 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Canada-Métis Nation Permanent Bilateral Mechanism; Métis National Council; Manitoba Métis Federation
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7

Funding provided through Budget 2022 housing investments are administered directly by Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada does not have direct control or oversight over the expenditures of Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations. Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations may expend funds on services and infrastructure for their membership to respond to Call for Justice 4.1.

To support Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has delivered all funding from the Budget 2022 Housing Investment for Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations for the 2023/24 fiscal year through transfers in their fiscal arrangements. All funding in 2023-24 was transferred to Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations who are empowered through their agreements with Canada to deliver housing and infrastructure programming to their citizens in ways that meet their objectives under self-determination.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $565 million/5 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7

Budget 2022 provided $4 billion over seven years, starting in 2022-23, including $2.4 billion over five years to support First Nations housing on reserves. This initiative responds to Call for Justice 4.1 through targeted funds that work to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have services and infrastructure that meet their social and economic needs including access to safe housing. Since 2016, and as of December 31, 2023, Indigenous Services Canada has supported the construction, renovation and retrofit of 18,668 housing units and the acquisition and servicing of 3,324 lots, divided as follows:

• 5,875 new unit constructions, 2,832 of which are completed
• 12,793 unit renovations and upgrades, 6,096 of which are completed
• 3,324 lots acquired and serviced, 1,500 of which are completed

As an example of work supported by this initiative, the Daylu Dena Council, in the Yukon, is providing better options for the elderly and people with reduced mobility to continue living in their home community of Lower Post. Residents in the newly constructed sixplex share common living spaces and three two-bedroom and three one-bedroom units. Council members designed the building with the community's northern climate in mind and used green standards to ensure energy efficiency.

Through this initiative, Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick and the Government of Canada have also worked to strengthen the governance structure of Tobique's housing program to help develop a healthier and sustainable Indigenous community. The program included the construction of a triplex housing unit, additions to four units and a capacity development project. Access to safe and adequate housing is critical to improving health and social outcomes and essential to advancing self-determination and reconciliation.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: $2.4 billion/5 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Community-based partners; Regional and national partner organizations; Assembly of First Nations; First Nations; First Nations organizations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 4.7, 18.25

Indigenous Services Canada funding for First Nations under the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund supports immediate demands, as determined by Indigenous partners, for ongoing, new and shovel-ready projects in First Nations and urban communities and can include new housing constructions, renovation and retrofit projects. This initiative supports Call for Justice 4.6, which calls for the Government to commence the construction of new housing and the provision of repairs for existing housing to meet the housing needs of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The fund supports the immediate demands, as determined by Indigenous partners, for ongoing, new and shovel-ready projects in First Nations and Urban communities and can include new housing constructions, renovation, and retrofit projects.

Starting in 2021–22 and as of December 31, 2023, Indigenous Services Canada has invested $2.90 billion (excluding operating expenses), including $560.2 million spent under Housing. This funding is supporting a total of 1,037 housing infrastructure projects that will benefit 489 communities serving around 451,000 people. Under the last two Call for Proposals (UPIP Major Infrastructure Fund from December 3, 2021 to January 31, 2022 and the Urban Component of Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund from September 27, 2022 to December 30, 2022), 66 projects were approved (19 under UPIP Major Infrastructure and 47 projects under the Urban Component of ICIF) that will support the needs of Indigenous women and girls. Of these 66 projects, 30 projects were approved for funding during fiscal year 2023–24. For the 2023-24 fiscal year, Indigenous Services Canada has committed $201.2 million under housing, including $8 million for subdivisions.

For example, in 2023–24 this initiative funded professional services related to the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association Tiny Homes Project. The project, which resulted in the construction of 13 homes representing one new home for each First Nation community in Nova Scotia, addresses gaps in housing, specifically for women and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada
Funding Amount: First Nations on reserves: $2.83 billion over 3 years; Urban Component: $200 million over 34 years
Funding Source:
Partners: Community-based partners; Regional and national partner organizations; Assembly of First Nations; First Nations; First Nations organizations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

The Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund responds, in part, to Calls for Justice 4.6 by providing funding for shovel-ready infrastructure projects in Métis communities. Each Métis partner submitted a 4-year workplan identifying the specific needs of their communities and the infrastructure projects they would be targeting. Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund investments are currently being used to provide subsidized, temporary and/or transitional housing for Indigenous women, youth, and elders, and others in need. The Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund is also funding cultural centers, multi-purpose community buildings, water and wastewater projects, and transportation infrastructure projects based on self-defined infrastructure workplans.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $240 million/4 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Citizens; Métis governments; Métis governments not represented by MNC
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

Inuit Treaty Organizations are generally targeting Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund investments toward non-housing community infrastructure. They are also delivering housing specific investments such as those announced in Budget 2022. In both cases, these investments are delivered to partners by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada for self-determined infrastructure and housing delivery, based on community priorities.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $517.8 million/4 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Inuit Treaty Organizations; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

The funding being provided through this initiative is intended to support new housing construction and maintenance of existing housing units for First Nations off-reserve without Modern Treaties or Self-Government Agreements and Métis Communities in the Northwest Territories, in accordance with the funding recipients' community priorities. Please note that partners determine how best to respond to their housing challenges.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $18 million / 4 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Detcho, Akaitcho, NWT Métis Nation and North Slave Métis Alliance
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

Funding provided through the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund may support new construction and maintenance of existing housing for members of Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations. All spending under the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund is provided through fiscal grants and is subject to change in accordance with community priorities.

Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs has delivered all funding from the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Funds for the 2023-24 fiscal year through transfers associated with existing fiscal arrangements for each eligible Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nation.

As this funding is designed to support community priorities and self-determination, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs does not have direct control or oversight over the expenditures of Self-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations. f-Governing and Modern Treaty First Nations may expend funds on new housing and housing repairs for their membership to respond to Call for Justice 4.6.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $520.6 million/4 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Self-Government and Modern Treaty First Nations
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

The National Housing Strategy is currently a 10-year, $82+ billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Launched in 2017, the Strategy includes a range of complementary programs and initiatives that address diverse needs across the entire housing continuum. This includes initiatives to construct new and repair existing housing for households across Canada, including for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Call for Justice 4.6 outlines specifically the need for housing to address the violence faced by Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

The National Housing Strategy recognizes that women and their children are disproportionately impacted by housing need and that intersections of identities such as race, sexual orientation, age and socio-economic status create distinct types of housing barriers for them. For this reason, the federal government aims to put 33% of the strategy's investments, with a minimum of 25%, towards serving the unique needs of women and their children. As of December 31, 2023, the National Housing Strategy has committed an estimated $12.32 billion towards meeting the housing needs of women and their children, which represents 31% of all National Housing Strategy funding.

Similarly, meeting the housing needs of Indigenous communities is a priority under Canada's National Housing Strategy. Projects serving the needs of Indigenous peoples and families are prioritized for funding under many National Housing Strategy programs. There is also programming and funding exclusively for Indigenous and Northern housing.

On November 30, 2020, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $724.1 million to support the construction and operations of 38 new shelters and 50 transitional homes for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people facing gender-based violence through the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy. CMHC will allocate $420 million of this investment over 5 years to support the construction of new shelters and transitional housing through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative, which is also considered a part of the NHS.

Lead Department: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $82 billion over ten years, starting in 2017-18
Funding Source: Various
Partners: Provincial and territorial governments; National Indigenous Organizations, and their affiliated organizations; Indigenous governments and organizations; non-profit organizations; municipal governments
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 25 and 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.1, 4.7, 12.4, 16.18 and 18.25

Improving the quality, supply, and affordability of housing for Indigenous Peoples living in urban, rural, and northern areas is a priority for the Government of Canada and an important commitment on the path toward reconciliation.

The Government is taking key steps in advancing the Budget 2023 commitment of $4 billion over 7 years starting 2024-25 for the implementation of the Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, which was in addition to the Budget 2022 $285.1 million commitment over 2 years to address urgent and unmet needs.

The Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy is a stand-alone companion to the National Housing Strategy. It is expected to complement the existing First Nation, Inuit and Métis housing strategies and investments made in housing for MTSGIGs and fill gaps for Indigenous people living in U.R.N. areas.

In Spring 2023, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation supported a range of Indigenous-led engagements with Indigenous governments, organizations, and housing and service providers to inform the U.R.N Strategy. Overall, more than 6,000 individuals participated in the engagement process, through 40 in-person and virtual Indigenous-led engagement sessions, a series of online surveys conducted by four partners, and 14 engagement reports from Indigenous partners, as well as through the online Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation survey, which gathered almost 1,000 responses and five written submissions.

The Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls speak specifically to the need for more housing, and Call for Justice 4.6 outlines specifically the need for housing to address the violence faced by Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As a key part of the engagement, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation offered and provided funding to National Indigenous Women's Organizations to carry out their own engagement sessions to ensure the voices of women and 2SLGBTQI+ people informed the development of the Strategy, including major contributors of U.R.N. submissions by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, The Native Women's Association of Canada, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak and the Ontario Native Women's Association.

On January 22, 2024, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation also launched a formal Request for Proposal process on behalf of the Government of Canada for Indigenous governments and organizations to submit a proposal to lead the establishment of an Indigenous-led National Indigenous Housing Centre. Once selected, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will finalize an agreement with the successful proponent to establish the National Indigenous Housing Centre. One of the key roles of the National Indigenous Housing Centre will be to provide funding to address core Indigenous housing needs in urban, rural, and northern areas.

The Government of Canada will also work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing Indigenous Governments partners on direct funding to support their members and beneficiaries living in urban, rural and northern areas and discuss interim approaches for those who may not be ready.

Lead Department: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $4 billion over 7 years, starting 2024-25; $285.1M commitment over 2 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022; Budget 2023
Partners:
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 17.20 and 17.23

The Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy responds to the Calls for Miskotahâ and the Calls for Justice by expanding access to culturally-relevant, wraparound supports for Indigenous women, children, 2SLGBTQQIA+ people facing gender-based violence. This strategy will support new shelters and transition housing for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples across the country, including on reserve, in the North, and in urban areas.

Between fiscal years 2021-22 and 2023-24, $107 million was allocated for Indigenous Services Canada to fund the operations of new shelters and transition homes and to support violence prevention activities. As of January 2024, Indigenous Services Canada spent 89% of its allocation, a total of $94.8 million. Additional spending is anticipated as funding agreements with recipients are finalized in Q4. Of the $94.8 million the department has spent, $64.5 million has gone to programs and services for Indigenous people facing gender-based violence, and $30.3 million on initial operational costs ($9.3 million) and project development ($21 million).

As of January 2024, Indigenous Services Canada has spent a total of $21.7 million in 2023-24 to support shelter projects, including $5.4 million to start up initial operations, and $16.3 million in project development costs. Start-up funding is intended to support the costs associated in the operations of the facilities (i.e., furniture, equipment, generators, staff, and training). Pre-development funding is intended to support the soft costs associated in the application process, in turn supporting community capacity and expediting construction.

As part of the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) delivers the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing initiative, which allocates $420 million over 5 years to support the construction of a minimum of 38 shelters and 50 transitional homes across Canada. These shelters and transition homes will provide Indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQI+ survivors of gender-based violence a vital refuge and culturally appropriate supports and services. Indigenous Services Canada and CMHC work with an Indigenous-led Steering Committee, which reviews and selects projects. For the Inuit Stream of the Initiative, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada Co-Chair the Inuit Steering Committee with Indigenous Services Canada and CMHC.

As of December 31, 2023, the Indigenous-led Steering committees have selected 47 projects for funding (25 Shelters & 22 Transitional Housing), which is $207 million in capital funding and 786 spaces/units. 33 projects in total have advanced to the point of receiving an agreement and $26 million has been advanced. Of the 47 projects selected for funding: 11 are Inuit-led, 1 is 2S+ led, 8 are led by Urban Indigenous organizations (2 of these are providing Métis specific services but are not considered Métis-led), 27 are First Nations-led (2 of these are in urban areas, remainder located on reserve).

Lead Department: Indigenous Services Canada; Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $724.1 million/5 years and $96.6 million ongoing
Funding Source: Fall Economic Statement 2020
Partners: Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada; Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak; Assembly of First Nations' Women's Council; National Aboriginal Circle Against Family Violence; National Family and Survivors Circle; Urban partners; 2SLGBTQQIA+ partners
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 19, 23, 25
Related Calls for Justice: 1.8, 3.4, 7.3, 16.19, 16.29, 17.20, 17.23

The work of Action Research on Chronic Homelessness in part responds to Call for Justice 4.7 by providing funding to support the establishment of services to prevent and reduce Indigenous homelessness, including by enhancing accessibility to culturally appropriate supports and services. Through the Action Research on Chronic Homelessness initiative, Infrastructure Canada is working with, and supporting, eight communities to implement projects. All eight agreements have been signed and initial project activities have begun including hiring project leads, setting up Advisory Tables, and conducting interviews with people with lived and living experience including within Indigenous communities.

Lead Department: Infrastructure Canada
Funding Amount: $18.1 million/3 years, beginning in 2022-23
Funding Source: Budget 2022
Partners: Select Reaching Home funding recipients receiving funding under the Designated Communities, Territorial Homelessness, and/or Indigenous Homelessness streams; Local Indigenous partners in communities where there is not currently an Indigenous-led organization delivering Reaching Home funding; Select provinces/territories; Infrastructure Canada representatives; National Indigenous Homelessness Council; and Local community partners
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 18, 23, 25, 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.1, 12.4, 18.25

The Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund responds, in part, to Calls for Justice 4.7 by providing funding for shovel-ready infrastructure projects in Métis communities. Each Métis partner submitted a 4-year workplan identifying the specific needs of their communities and the infrastructure projects they would be targeting. Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund investments are currently being used to provide subsidized, temporary and/or transitional housing for Indigenous women, youth, and elders, and others in need.

Lead Department: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Funding Amount: $240 million/4 years
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Citizens; Métis governments; Métis governments not represented by MNC
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.7, 13.5

The National Housing Strategy is currently a 10-year, $82+B plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Launched in 2017, the Strategy includes a range of complementary programs and initiatives that address diverse needs across the entire housing continuum. This includes initiatives to build new and repair shelter spaces, transitional housing units and supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.

On November 30, 2020, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $724.1 million to support the construction and operations of 38 new shelters and 50 transitional homes for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people facing gender-based violence through the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will allocate $420 million of this investment over 5 years to support the construction of new shelters and transitional housing through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative, which is also considered a part of the National Housing Strategy. As of December 31, 2023, the Indigenous-led Steering committees have selected 47 projects for funding (25 Shelters & 22 Transitional Housing), which is $207 million in capital funding and 786 spaces/units. 33 projects in total have advanced to the point of receiving an agreement and $26 million has been advanced. Of the 47 projects selected for funding: 11 are Inuit-led, 1 is 2S+ led, 8 are led by Urban Indigenous organizations (2 of these are providing Métis specific services but are not considered Métis-led), 27 are First Nations-led (2 of these are located in urban areas, remainder located on reserve).

Since the launch of the Affordable Housing Fund, as of December 31, 2023, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has committed $8.17 billion to support the creation of 32,919 new units (21,488 under 80% median market rent) and the repair/renewal of 159,847 units (127,088 under 80% median market rent) for households across Canada. Of the 32,919 new units, 3,466 units are conditional commitments, 16,407 units are in progress, and 13,046 units are built.

This includes:

• 2,708 new shelters spaces and 4,454 repaired shelter spaces, 4,191 of which have been completed.
• 1,169 new and 102 repaired transitional housing units, 949 of which have been completed.
• 4,181 new and 2,448 repaired supportive housing units, 1,645 of which have been completed.

Among the 32,919 new units and repair/renewal of 159,847 units committed, 3,392 new units and 4,113 repair/renewed units are targeted towards people experiencing homelessness (3,951 of which have been completed).

The Rapid Housing Initiative Rounds 1 to 3 committed $3.87 billion to support the creation of 15,742 new affordable units, of which 5,532 units are built, 4,865 are currently under construction and 187 units are financially committed.

Of the total units committed, 978 are transitional housing units (358 of which have been built) and 5,574 are supportive housing units (1,699 of which have been built). Among the 15,742 new affordable units, 3,712 are targeted towards people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, 1,421 of which have been built.

Lead Department: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $82B over ten years, starting in 2017-18
Funding Source: Various
Partners: Provincial and territorial governments; National Indigenous Organizations, and their affiliated organizations; Indigenous governments and organizations; non-profit organizations; municipal governments
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 25 and 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 12.4, 16.18 and 18.25

Improving the quality, supply, and affordability of housing for Indigenous Peoples living in urban, rural, and northern areas is a priority for the Government of Canada and an important commitment on the path toward reconciliation.

The Government is taking key steps in advancing the Budget 2023 commitment of $4 billion over 7 years starting 2024-25 for the implementation of the Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, which was in addition to the Budget 2022 $285.1 million commitment over 2 years to address urgent and unmet needs.

The Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy is a stand-alone companion to the National Housing Strategy. It is expected to complement the existing First Nation, Inuit and Métis housing strategies and investments made in housing for MTSGIGs and fill gaps for Indigenous people living in U.R.N. areas.

In Spring 2023, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) supported a range of Indigenous-led engagements with Indigenous governments, organizations, and housing and service providers to inform the U.R.N Strategy. Overall, more than 6,000 individuals participated in the engagement process, through 40 in-person and virtual Indigenous-led engagement sessions, a series of online surveys conducted by four partners, and 14 engagement reports from Indigenous partners, as well as through the online CMHC survey, which gathered almost 1,000 responses and five written submissions.

The Government of Canada will also be working with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners and Modern Treaty and Self-Governing Indigenous Governments partners on direct funding to support their members and beneficiaries living in urban, rural and northern areas and discuss interim approaches for those who may not be ready.

The Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls speak specifically to the need for more housing, and Call for Justice 4.6 outlines specifically the need for housing to address the violence faced by Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As a key part of the engagement on the U.R.N. Indigenous Housing Strategy, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation offered and provided funding to National Indigenous Women's Organizations to carry out their own engagement sessions to ensure the voices of women and2SLGBTQI+ people informed the development of the Strategy, including major contributors of U.R.N. submissions by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, The Native Women's Association of Canada, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak and the Ontario Native Women's Association. During engagements on the Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, there was a strong focus was on addressing the need for supportive housing for Elders; children in care and aging out of care; families involved in the child welfare system; safe affordable housing for students; Indigenous women and children fleeing violence and exiting human trafficking; persons with disabilities; 2SLGBTQIA+ people; and people who are unhoused/homeless. There was also a focus on the need access to safe, affordable housing across the housing continuum. A global What we Heard report from the overall engagements will be released in the Spring 2024 summarizing these engagements, including voices of Indigenous women. girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Lead Department: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Funding Amount: $4B over 7 years, starting in 2024-25; $285.1M commitment over 2 years
Funding Source: Budget 2022; Budget 2023
Partners:
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 4.6, 17.20 and 17.23

The work of the Reaching Home program in part responds to Call for Justice 4.7 by providing dedicated funding to support culturally appropriate services that seek to prevent and reduce Indigenous homelessness. In addition, this program supports Calls for Miskotahâ 8, 18, 23, 25 and 26 by providing distinctions-based funding to Métis partners to address homelessness.

Reaching Home's Distinctions-based Approaches stream provides funding to Indigenous organizations and governments to implement projects that reflect the unique rights, interests, and circumstances of First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit experiencing and at risk of experiencing homelessness. The Indigenous Homelessness stream provides funding for the delivery of Indigenous-specific homelessness programming off-reserve, with the intent that funding be provided to Indigenous organizations located within and outside of urban centres.

Eligible activities under the Reaching Home program include, but are not limited to:

• Housing services that lead to an individual or family transitioning into more stable housing deemed appropriate and safe. This includes transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and Indigenous housing options that are culturally appropriate and delivered by an Indigenous organization.
• Prevention activities aimed at preventing homelessness by supporting individuals and families at imminent risk of homelessness before a crisis occurs. This includes supporting individuals and families who are currently housed but at-risk of losing their housing, and preventing individuals who are being discharged from public systems (for example, health, corrections, and child welfare) from becoming homeless.
• Shelter diversion to prevent the use of emergency shelters by providing individualized supports when families and individuals are seeking to enter the emergency shelter system. Shelter diversion programs help individuals and families seeking shelter to explore safe and appropriate alternate housing arrangements and, if necessary, connect them with services and financial assistance to help them find secure housing.

Lead Department: Infrastructure Canada
Funding Amount: $4 billion over 9 years (beginning in 2019-20)
Funding Source: $2.1 billion from 2019-2020 to 2027-2028 (Budget 2017); $$409.2 million in 2019-20 and 2020-21 (COVID-19 emergency funding); $299.4 million in 2021-22 (Fall Economic Statement 2020); $567.2 million in 2022-23 and 2023-24 (Budget 2021); $562.2 million in 2024-25 and 2025-26 (Budget 2022); and, approximately $100 million in 2023-24 (departmental reallocation for unsheltered homelessness) . Additionally, $1 billion from 2024-25 to 2027-28 is proposed in Budget 2024.
Partners: Provincial and territorial governments; National Indigenous Homelessness Council; National Indigenous Organizations (Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council, Manitoba Métis Federation, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) and their affiliated organizations; and, Reaching Home Community Entities and Community Advisory Boards (includes 37 communities and regions across Canada under the Indigenous Homelessness stream); Modern Treaty Holders with provisions in their treaties related to the delivery of social services; Other partners within the housing and homelessness sectors
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: 8, 18, 23, 25, 26
Related Calls for Justice: 4.1, 12.4, 16.1, 16.18, 16.19, 18.25

This initiative provides ongoing funding for Indigenous owned rail lines in two rural and remote regions where alternative, year-round transportation is limited or unavailable - Sept-Iles and Schefferville in Quebec and The Pas and Pukatawagan in Manitoba. This initiative supports Call for Justice 4.8 by funding safe and affordable transit and transportation services for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people living in remote or rural communities.

Ongoing funding of the Remote Passenger Rail Program between Sept-Iles and Schefferville in Quebec and The Pas and Pukatawagan in Manitoba in the form of contributions for:

• Operating expenditures for the remote passenger rail services not provided by VIA Rail Canada (VIA); and
• Capital expenditures for owners of railway lines where federally supported (by Transport Canada or VIA) remote passenger rail services operate.

Lead Department: Transport Canada
Funding Amount: $43 million/3 years (Budget 2021) + an additional one-time funding of $49.9 million
Funding Source: Budget 2021
Partners: Keewatin Rail Company; Tshiuetin Rail Transportation (Indigenous Passenger Rail Services Providers)
Related Calls for Miskotahâ: N/A
Related Calls for Justice: 17.9