Health Update: Feds announce $1.4 B to support urban Indigenous populations – What Experts Say

The Minister of Indigenous Services Canada, Mandy Gull-Masty announced federal funding of nearly $1.4 billion to support Indigenous populations living off reserve as well as mental health and trauma support programming, and assisted living services on reserve.

In a news release, the federal government says the funding will ensure Indigenous peoples receive stable, distinctions‑based, and culturally grounded services that improve health and wellness outcomes.

“Indigenous‑led organizations and community leaders are driving meaningful change in health and wellness,” Gull-Masty said.

“These investments will ensure access to essential supports—both in urban centres and in First Nations communities—advance healing and dignity, and help ensure Indigenous Peoples can receive care that reflects their realities and strengthens communities for generations to come.”

The federal government is first investing $168 million over 5 years in to support the Friendship Centre movement as part of the department’s shift toward the transfer of service delivery to Indigenous organizations.

It will be provided to the National Association of Friendship Centres and the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres to support local services through their affiliated friendship centres across Canada. The organizations serve over one million Indigenous Peoples in urban centres each year, including the most vulnerable and at-risk demographics, including women, girls, youth, seniors, 2SLGBTQI+ peoples, persons with disabilities, and persons with addictions.

“Today’s announcement reflects a meaningful commitment to the vital role Friendship Centres play in communities across the country. Friendship Centres are at the heart of urban Indigenous communities and play a critical role in supporting individuals, families, and communities to thrive. This five-year investment provides important stability, allowing Friendship Centres to continue delivering the programs and services that Indigenous Peoples rely on every day,” said Pamela Glode-Desrochers, President of the National Association of Friendship Centres.

The release notes that the money is in addition to the $27.5 million in annual funding the federal government provides to support Friendship Centres operations across the country.

The government is also earmarking $630 million over two years “to support the availability, accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of mental wellness services for Indigenous Peoples across the country,” the release says.

“This investment includes the renewal of the Trauma‑Informed Health and Cultural Support program, which provides culturally relevant mental health counselling and emotional and cultural supports to individuals, families, and communities healing from Indian Residential Schools, Indian Day Schools, the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, related settlement processes, and other colonial harms.

The funding further supports programs that connect communities with healing supports that are trauma-informed, and grounded in culture, ceremony, and community knowledge.

They include wraparound services at 83 opioid agonist therapy sites across the country, 77 community‑led Mental Wellness Teams serving 385 First Nations and Inuit communities and continued access to crisis lines for Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors of Residential Schools and Day Schools, and families impacted by Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

$592.4 million is earmarked through 2034 for the Assisted Living Program for non-medical social support services for low-income individuals ordinarily resident on-reserve. That includes seniors, people with disabilities, and those with chronic health conditions or activity limitations.

Funding will flow to communities through First Nations, the provinces, and the Yukon, who “are best placed to provide access to essential in‑home and long‑term care services so community members can maintain their independence, remain close to family, and stay in or near their home communities,” the release says.

Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP) was created in 2017, and is ISC’s only program that specifically focuses on Indigenous peoples living in, transitioning to, or accessing services in urban centres. More than 100 organizations, projects or initiatives receive funding under UPIP.