Government Commitments

Government Commitments to Truth and Reconciliation

Budget 2022 invests $11B in Indigenous reconciliation initiatives

April 7, 2022

Budget 2022 proposes to invest $11 billion over six years to continue to support Indigenous children and families, and to help Indigenous communities continue to grow and shape the`ir futures through the following initiatives:

Child Welfare: ($4,297M)

  • $4.017B to support long-term reforms to improve implementation of Jordan’s principle
  • $280M over 5 years to support implementation of Indigenous child welfare laws

Residential Schools ($275M over 5 years)

  • $209.8M over 5 years to help communities to:
    • document, locate and memorialize burial sites at former residential schools
    • support the operations of and a new building for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
    • ensure complete disclosure of federal documents related to residential schools
  • $10.4M over 2 years to Justice Canada to support appointment of Special Interlocutor to strengthen deferral laws and practices to protect and preserve unmarked burial sites
  • $5.1M over 5 years to ensure RCMP can support community-led responses to unmarked burial sites
  • $25M over 3 years to Library and Archives Canada to support digitization of millions of documents related to the federal Indian Day School System to ensure survivors have meaningful access to them
  • $25M over 3 years to Parks Canada to support commemoration and memorialization of former residential school sites

Indigenous Health ($686.1M over 1 to 2 years)

  • $268M in 2022-23 to continue to provide high-quality healthcare in remote and isolated First Nations communities on-reserve
  • $190.5M in 2022-23 for Indigenous Community Support fund to mitigate ongoing impacts of COVID-19
  • $227.6M over 2 years to maintain trauma-informed, culturally-apprpriate, Indigenous-led services to improve mental wellness, and to support efforts initiated through Budget 2021 too co-develop distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategies

Education ($310.6M over 5 years)

  • $310.6M over 5 years to support better student outcomes through a Regional Education Agreement with the First Nations Education Council , which includes 22 member communities in Québec

Infrastructure

Clean Drinking Water ($571.2M over 2-10 years)

  • $398M over 2 years to Indigenous Services Canada to support community infrastructure on reserve, of which at least $247M will be directed toward water and wastewater infrastructure
  • $173.2M over 10 years to Indigenous Services Canada to support the transfer of water and wastewater services in 17 communities to the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority

Community Infrastructure ($162.6M over 3 years)

  • $162.6M over 3 years the enable the completion of required infrastructure with respect to the Lubicon Lake Band settlement agreement

Housing ($3,936M over 5-7 years))

  • $4B over 7 years to Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to accelerate work in closing Indigenous housing gaps as follows:
    • $2.4B over 5 years to support First Nations housing on reserves
    • $565M over 5 years to support housing in First Nations Self-Governing and Modern Treaty Holders communities
    • $845M over 6 years to support housing in Inuit communities
    • $190M over 7 years for housing in Métis communities
  • $300M over 5 years through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to co-develop and launch an Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
  • $2B of the $20B provided for long-term reform of the First Nations Child and Family Service program to target the housing needs of First Nations children once a final settlement agreement is reached.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act ($75M over 5 years)

  • $65.8 M over 5 years and $11M ongoing to Justice Canada and Natural Resources Canada to accelerate work to meet legislated requirements including the co-development of an action plan with Indigenous partners
  • $9.5M over 5 years to the Dept. of National Defence to align its operations and engagement with Indigenous peoples with the Act.

Indigenous Climate Leadership ($160.9M over 2-5 years)

  • $29.6M over 3 years to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to support the co-development on an Indigenous Climate Leadership Agenda to support self-determined action in addressing Indigenous peoples’ climate priorities. The funding will also support the phased implementation of distinctions-based climate strategies
  • $103.4M over 5 years to Natural Resources Canada to develop a National Benefit-Sharing Framework and the expansion of the Indigenous Partnership Office and the Indigenous Natural Resource Partnership program. At least $25M of this funding should be dedicated to early engagement and Indigenous communities’ capacity building to support their participation on the critical minerals strategy
  • $27.9M over 2 years to Natural Resources Canada for the Line 3 and the Trans Mountain Expansion Project pipelines’ Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committees, to enable Indigenous communities to identify common priorities and provide informed advise on thees projects

Supporting Indigenous Businesses and Community Economic Developments ($200M over 5 years)

  • $150M over 5 years to Indigenous Services Canada’s Lands and Economic Development Services Program and Community Opportunity Readiness Program to advance shovel ready economic opportunities in Indigenous communities
  • $15M over 5 years to the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency to support Indigenous economic development in the north
  • $35M over 5 years to Indigenous Service Canada to increase economic capacity supports, including specialized training opportunities delivered by Indigenous-led organizations