Inuit Tapariit Kanatami has worked with the Government of Canada, as well as AFN and MNC, to co-develop options for federal legislation to address the protection of Inuit children. Through engagement sessions and research, Inuit developed and submitted a series of priorities for child protection. They include:

• Doing whatever is possible to keep children with their immediate or extended families, which requires enhancing the support provided by departments and agencies;
• Ensuring that all care provided to Inuit children and families is culturally appropriate;
• Ensuring that Inuit children and youth living outside of Inuit Nunangat are identified as Inuit and provided with culturally appropriate care; and,
• Ensuring that Inuit children and youth sent outside of Inuit Nunangat for specialized care remain in contact with their culture and their home community.

Inuit also called for the legislation to respect four principles:

• An outcomes-focused approach
  The legislation should be focused achieving tangible change in the lives of children and families, not solely on process, funding levels or the development of policies and standards.
• A distinctions-based approach
  Federal legislation should recognize that the situations of Inuit, First Nations and Metis children are sufficiently different that they require different policy approaches. The legislation should contain equitable tools that are flexible enough to address child and family services issues for all children.
• An evidence-based approach
  The legislation should contemplate the collection and use of data to inform meaningful changes to current Indigenous child welfare policies, programs and levers. Consistent with a distinctions-based approach, data should be disaggregated when collected and applied.

Inuit self-determination
Federal legislation should ensure that Inuit rights holders are able to exercise agency. In some cases, this may mean providing the opportunity for Inuit to engage directly in service delivery. In other cases, it may mean providing support for Inuit and public governments or other service delivery agents to cooperate and collaborate on Inuit child welfare.