Transition Binder: Indigenous Policing and Reconciliation

Public Safety Canada (PS) works with provinces and territories (PTs) to co-fund an enhanced level of policing in some First Nation and Inuit communities. Indigenous, policing and PT partners and stakeholders have repeatedly called for reforms to improve the delivery of policing services to better meet the needs of Indigenous communities.

Relevant Mandate Letter Commitments

Further Information

As of December 2024, the Government of Canada is facing increased criticism in the area of Indigenous policing in light of recent deaths of Indigenous people during interactions with police officers, recent court rulings related to levels of funding for First Nations police services, as well as the perceived lack of progress on the commitment to table federal legislation that would recognize First Nations police services as essential services.

The First Nations and Inuit Policing Program and the Funding for First Nations and Inuit Policing Facilities Program

PS manages and administers the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), which provides funding for professional, dedicated and responsive policing services to First Nation and Inuit communities in Canada. As of 2024-25, the FNIPP supports over 435 First Nations and Inuit communities, representing roughly 65% of First Nation and Inuit communities in Canada. The program is currently being modernized, in response to calls for change and informed by the March 2024 Auditor General's Report on the FNIPP.

FNIPP policing agreements are cost-shared between the federal government (52%) and the relevant P/T (48%). This cost-share ratio reflects a shared interest pursuant to the Constitution Act, 1867, where the federal government has legislative jurisdiction for "Indians, and lands reserved for Indians" (s.91(24)) and provinces have legislative jurisdiction over the administration of justice in the province, including policing (s.92(14)).

There are two main models supported by FNIPP funding:

  1. Self-Administered Police Service Agreements: First Nation or Inuit police service is authorized or established under PT legislation and provides primary policing services to a First Nation or Inuit community
  2. Community Tripartite Agreements : Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers provide dedicated policing to a First Nation or Inuit community to supplement the level of P/T policing services provided, pursuant to bilateral framework agreements with all PTs where the RCMP is the police of jurisdiction

Budget 2024 invested $267.5 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, and $92.5 million ongoing to support FNIPP and the related work of the PS's Indigenous Secretariat. This is in addition to Budget 2021 investments, which provided $540.3 million over five years beginning in 2021-22 and $126.8 million ongoing to support First Nations and Inuit communities currently served under the FNIPP and to expand the program to new communities.

The FNIPP was created in 1991 and has faced increasing criticism for being inappropriate for funding self-administered police services. Program modernization is underway with ongoing updates to the program's Terms and Conditions and policy (last updated in 1991) to better respond to the needs of First Nations and Inuit communities. This work is in keeping with a Management Action Plan tabled at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts in fall 2024.

PS also manages and administers the First Nation and Inuit Policing Facilities Program (FNIPFP), which provides funding to support the construction, renovation, or repair of policing facilities in First Nation and Inuit communities. The FNIPFP was established in 2018 as a complement to FNIPP. As with the FNIPP, these investments are cost-shared at a 52% federal – 48% P/T split (or from the First Nation or Inuit community).

Budget 2024 invested $200 million over five years beginning in 2024-2025 to support repairs, renovations, and replacement of policing facilities for existing self-administered police services. This is in addition to Budget 2021, which provided an additional investment in the program of $108.6M over five years beginning in 2021-22. Since the implementation of this program, the demand, often located in northern and remote communities, has far exceeded the funding envelope.

Although the FNIPP and FNIPFP have had a positive impact on First Nations and Inuit communities, funding challenges and inequitable access remain. Program gaps and shortcomings have left the Government of Canada vulnerable to litigation alleging inequitable access to policing for Indigenous communities, including civil court claims, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) complaints, and Charter challenges.

Legal proceedings fall mainly in two categories: discrimination complaints before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT); and civil claims based on the Honour of the Crown, though there is also a Charter complaint, filed in December 2022. These claims have brought forward a range of complex legal issues including: the applicable test for substantive equality when government programs are being challenged; the impact of the Honour of the Crown on funding agreements; and, the responsibility of provinces and territories for police services and police services funding. Recent decisions of the court (in IPCO and Takuhikan) and the CHRT (in Dominique) have not been in Canada's favour. Canada is analyzing the recent Supreme Court decision with a view to assessing the implications for Indigenous-facing program delivery.

Federal Legislation for First Nations Police Services

First Nations have long called for reform to how First Nations police services are funded in Canada, and have advocated for legislation that recognizes First Nations police services as an essential service through equitable, adequate and stable federal funding. The Minister of Public Safety's December 2019 mandate letter (and subsequent letters in January and December 2021) directed the co-development of legislation that recognizes First Nations police services as essential services. The objective of the legislation is to recognize First Nations police services as essential services by supporting them with adequate funding. First Nations police services would continue to be subject to PT policing legislation, regulations, and standards.

For over three years, PS collaborated with the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA), the First Nations Police Governance Council (FNPGC), and PTs to develop the policy vision of the legislation. Two engagement processes were also hosted with First Nations leadership, in winter 2022 and winter 2024, to validate the direction of the legislation and to receive feedback. This work culminated in the finalization of "The Elements to inform the First Nations police services legislation," which would guide the drafting of the legislation. The "Elements" were shared with all First Nations in September 2024 and are publicly available on Public Safety's website.

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was PS's original co-development partner. However, the AFN has since revised its mandate via three resolutions, first in March 2023 and most recently in July 2024, to direct the AFN to co-develop legislation that would recognize First Nations inherent rights and jurisdiction over policing. This approach is incongruous with the mandate to bring forward legislation that complements existing P/T legal frameworks in the area of policing.

The Minister of Public Safety made a presentation at the July 2024 Annual General Assembly and reaffirmed the Government of Canada's commitment to introducing legislation focused on recognizing and supporting First Nations police services as essential services in fall 2024. The Minister was clear that there is insufficient time to include a recognition of First Nations inherent rights in this legislation for a fall 2024 introduction, as this would be a complex undertaking given that this is an area of P/T jurisdiction. The Minister committed to continuing the conversation with the AFN National Chief, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, to find solutions and move forward on legislation.

In September 2024, the Minister met with the AFN National Chief and both committed to establishing a high-level working group to propose a way forward on legislation that would recognize First Nations police services as essential services through equitable federal funding, and that discussions on the matter of inherent rights and jurisdiction over policing would continue via a separate process. Since then, departmental officials have met regularly with the AFN with the objective of establishing the working group and advancing this work.

At the most recent AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in December 2024, the lack of progress in tabling federal legislation was voiced by the National Chief and other AFN representatives. Further, an emergency resolution was adopted at that meeting calling for a National Inquiry into Systemic Racism in Policing and First Nations Peoples Death. It was further commented by AFN that no legislation could go forward without first addressing the systemic racism issue.

Provincial/Territorial Perspectives

PTs are responsible for the administration of justice and play a central role in regulating and funding policing in First Nations and Inuit communities. PTs have signaled that Indigenous policing is important to them, including federal legislation for First Nations police services, and there is strong interest in advancing reconciliation and responding to Indigenous community needs by cost-sharing new or expanded FNIPP agreements, co-funding investments under the FNIPFP, or by participating in other Indigenous community safety initiatives (e.g., Community Safety Officers). PT governments have also advocated for additional federal funding for the FNIPP. Effective federal-P/T coordination is important to ensuring FNIPP and FNIPFP investments are made, given the cost-shared nature of the programs, and to forward-looking dialogue on policing in Indigenous communities.

As part of its Management Action Plan in response to the Auditor General of Canada's March 2024 recommendations, PS is renewing its FNIPPP/FNIPFP program governance relationships with PTs with a view to improving the efficiency and expediency of program delivery.

Role of Indigenous Organizations

The Government of Canada has established permanent bilateral mechanisms with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation leaders to identify joint priorities, co-develop and monitor progress on advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. PS officials support work related to Justice and Policing in these venues. Indigenous leadership has stressed the urgency of moving forward with policing reforms and there are high expectations that reform activities will advance in the short-to-medium-term.

The AFN has passed multiple resolutions related to reforming First Nations policing and has undertaken engagement with First Nations to support the co-development of the First Nations police services legislation. The FNCPA and FNPGC are also strong advocates for First Nations police services legislation and continue to inform the legislation. Calls for Indigenous policing reform have also been made by Inuit and Métis leaders.

In response, PS has launched engagement with key Inuit and Métis partners to better understand their unique policing and community safety priorities. In preliminary engagement, Inuit partners showed a continued interest in participating in facilitated engagement sessions, which has extended the timelines. Bilateral virtual engagement sessions have been held since early February 2023 with representatives from across the regions of Inuit Nunangat, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada.

In parallel, Métis partners expressed a keen interest in focusing their engagement in a direct government-to-government context through a permanent bilateral mechanism between Canada and the Métis Nation. As a result, PS recently established a joint Justice and Policing Working Group to bring together representatives from the Métis Nation and various government departments and agencies (e.g., Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Indigenous Services Canada) to identify key priorities and work towards advancing them.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDA) came into force on June 21, 2021. The Act sets out a framework for implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the federal level in alignment with Canada's constitution. It reaffirms rights and practices protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom as well as under the s. 35 of the Constitution Act. The Act is intrinsically linked to other reconciliation efforts such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the National Inquiry of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The Act requires the Government of Canada to work in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples to:

PS is responsible for the implementation of nine Action Plan Measures (APMs) and co-leads on an additional two APMs. This includes nine Shared Priorities, one First Nation priority, and one Métis priority.

The Department of Justice is also currently leading the distinctions-based co-development of a strategy to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system. Once approved, PS will likely have a role in implementation of some portions of the strategy.

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