2023-2024 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report: Executive Summary

Shared responsibility of the National Inquiry’s 231 Calls for Justice

Since 2021, across the federal government, work has been done to advance progress on the Calls for Justice, of which:

• 29 (13 percent) call upon the federal government exclusively
• 186 (81 percent) call upon the federal government, provincial, and territorial governments collectively
• 6 (3 percent) call upon provincial and territorial governments exclusively
• 10  (4 percent) call upon non-government actors

Supporting the Immediate safety of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people

• The annual National Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People was held on February 7-8, 2024.
• Public Safety's Aboriginal Community Safety Planning Initiative supported 27 communities to develop Community Safety Plans, nine were completed and 18 remain ongoing in 2024-25.
• An additional $20 million was invested in the Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities initiative, managed by Indigenous Services Canada, to continue to provide Indigenous-led solutions to community safety.
• 47 new projects were selected for funding through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative, funded by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which represents over $198 million in capital funding and will result in the building of 380 units.
• Through Budget 2023, the Government of Canada announced $4 billion in funding to implement an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy and establish a National Indigenous Housing Centre. This is in addition to the $300 million announced in Budget 2022 to co-develop and launch an Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
• An additional $3 million allocated to develop 13 new programs to support the wellbeing of families and survivors through Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Support for the Wellbeing of Families and Survivors Initiative.
• Funding provided through the Distinctions-Based Housing Support initiative supported four Inuit land claim organizations to construct 500 new housing units, and funding for the Métis Nation Governing Members and the Manitoba Métis Federation to purchase, build, or renovate approximately 4,300 units and provide financial assistance to a further 9,500 households.
• Over 3,000 Indigenous households received access to high-speed Internet as a result of the completion of 11 Universal Broadband Fund projects, led by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
• Six long-term drinking water advisories and 24 short-term drinking water advisories were lifted as a result of Indigenous Services Canada's work to implement An Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nation lands.

Achieving Transformational Institutional and Systemic Change

• Justice Canada released the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan.
• Justice Canada concluded two years of engagement with Indigenous and provincial and territorial partners on an Indigenous Justice Strategy to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous People in the justice system, opening the door to the next phase of development.
• The Government of Canada introduced Bill C-61, an Act respecting water, source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nations lands.
• Indigenous Services Canda facilitated 15 co-development tables with First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and intersectional partners to translate partner input on distinctions-based Indigenous Health Legislation into potential legislative measures. In August 2023, Indigenous Services Canada distributed a Key Elements document, outlining potential preambular statements and legislative measure, for partner feedback.
• Indigenous Services Canada reached four new agreements with First Nations to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services.

Increasing Accountability and Transparency

• A Ministerial Special Representative conducted engagement with 600 people representing 125 organizations, including national and regional First Nations, Metis, and Inuit organizations, federal government departments, and provincial and territorial governments on Call for Justice 1.7.
• Budget 2023 committed $2.5M over five years to establish a standing Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People.
• The second annual National Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People was held on February 7-8, 2024, to discuss a Red Dress Alert, the final report of the Ministerial Special Representative on an Indigenous and Human Rights Ombudsperson, monitoring progress and opportunities for collaboration.

Working Together to Monitor Progress

• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada continued to fund 19 projects through the Indigenous-led Data Projects program, making the total contribution to this important work $1.8 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
• Statistics Canada's Missing Persons Data Standard Project conducted eight virtual information sessions with 18 representatives from National Indigenous Organizations, 27 from provincial/territorial government departments and 3 from federal departments to work towards the standardization of protocols, policies, and practices for police services in cases of missing Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people; and,
• Targets were set for the majority of the performance indicators in the MMIWG2S+ Horizontal Initiative and as a result of advancements in the MMIWG2S+ landscape, several new indicators were added.