Canada tables multibillion‑dollar plan to overhaul First Nations child welfare

Canada’s federal government has lodged a new multibillion‑dollar plan to overhaul how child protection services are delivered to First Nations communities, in a move closely watched by Indigenous advocates in Australia.

Parliamentary Secretary Ginette Lavack and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull‑Masty have outlined a national framework the Carney government says will finally bring the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) program into line with human‑rights obligations.

Under the proposal, Canada would invest $35.5 billion in long‑term reform through to the 2033–34 financial year, with a further ongoing commitment of $4.4 billion a year to sustain services after that. The funding is intended to support First Nations–led regional agreements within a national framework so that local nations can design child‑protection systems that keep children connected to family, culture and Country.

The national plan is part of Canada’s response to a landmark Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) case, which in 2016 found the federal government had racially discriminated against around 165,000 First Nations children by underfunding on‑reserve child‑welfare services and failing to properly implement Jordan’s Principle. A related settlement, approved by the Federal Court in 2023, set aside $23.34 billion in compensation for affected children and families.

In August 2025, the Tribunal issued order 2025 CHRT 80, directing Canada, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society to consult widely and submit national plans for long‑term reform by 22 December 2025. Canada’s new proposal is its answer to that order and sits alongside the “Loving Justice” national plan tabled by the Caring Society and the National Children’s Chiefs Commission (NCCC).

Announcing the government’s plan, Minister Gull‑Masty described the moment as “a historic turning point for First Nations children” and said long‑term reform would mean “fewer children taken from their families” and systems “designed and led by First Nations themselves”.

The over‑representation the reforms aim to tackle is stark. Indigenous children account for just 7.7 per cent of Canada’s under‑15 population, but 53.8 per cent of children in foster care, and are around 14 times more likely than non‑Indigenous children to be in foster placements.

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse‑Nepinak has welcomed, in principle, the NCCC and Caring Society’s national plan and urged Ottawa to place “the same priority on First Nations children as we do”. “Nothing is more important than our children,” she said, calling the process “a long, too long, drawn out process” and pressing for “real action on comprehensive reform”.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, the developments in Canada echo long‑running concerns about Australia’s own systems. At 30 June 2023, about 19,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were in out‑of‑home care, and between 2020 and 2024 the number rose from about 18,900 to around 20,000. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that in 2024 First Nations children were in out‑of‑home care at 11 times the rate of non‑Indigenous children, despite a national Closing the Gap target to reduce over‑representation in care by 45 per cent by 2031.