Measuring Well-Being on First Nations Reserves – April 2015 – December 2017

The Department did not have a comprehensive picture of the well-being of on-reserve First Nations people compared with other Canadians

Over-all Message

5.17     Overall, we found that Indigenous Services Canada’s main measure of socio-economic well-being on reserves, the Community Well-Being index, was not comprehensive. While the index included Statistics Canada data on education, employment, income, and housing, it omitted several aspects of well-being that are also important to First Nations people—such as health, environment, language, and culture.     

5.18     We also found that the Department did not adequately use the large amount of program data provided by First Nations, nor did it adequately use other available data and information. The Department also did not meaningfully engage with First Nations to satisfactorily measure and report on whether the lives of people on First Nations reserves were improving. For example, the Department did not adequately measure and report on the education gap. In fact, our calculations showed that this gap had widened in the past 15 years.

5.19     These findings matter because measuring and reporting on progress in closing socio-economic gaps would help everyone involved—including Parliament, First Nations, the federal government, other departments, and other partners—to understand whether their efforts to improve lives are working. If the gaps are not smaller in future years, this would mean that the federal approach needs to change.

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_201805_05_e_43037.html – hd2e