The Canadian Human Rights tribunal approved a historic agreement that is intended to empower First Nations to determine how best to provide culturally-appropriate child and family services to children in foster care.
The Ontario Final Agreement (OFA) between the government of Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and other First Nation stakeholders will provide authority to 133 Ontario First Nation communities to build capacity and keep children in their homes, or close to home.
The agreement, approved on March 30, took years to complete.
Minister of Indigenous Services, Mandy Gull-Masty, said the agreement validated and upheld that the work being carried out by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation is headed in the right direction.
“This really empowers communities to make decisions for their children while they are in care and further empowers them with the opportunity to define what kind of prevention work they want to do,” Gull-Masty said. “It helps with post-majority supports and positions the community to determine how they are going to provide for children in care — one of the most vulnerable times.”
The Ontario Final Agreement is a historical milestone for First Nations to take jurisdiction in designing and delivering child welfare services that reflect their values, traditions, and languages.
Historically, Indian agents acted on behalf of the Canadian government to manage the affairs of all Indigenous people, deciding who could leave the reserve and why and who could sell their crops and at what price.
The government also enforced enrollment of children to residential schools up until the 1960s — a period referred to as the the Sixties Scoop, when First Nation children from across Canada were removed in large numbers from their homes and separated from their birth families.
The children were then adopted into predominantly non-Indigenous, middle-class families. They were often far away from their communities, losing contact with family and culture.
Many survivors report being abused and neglected, and today many are stilling trying to reconnect with the communities they were stolen from and to a culture they didn’t grow up in.
The OFA will finally enable First Nations to decide for themselves how to best care for their children.
“You’re not only framing the entire support system to surround children with people that they know and that they love, you’re also doing the critical work of protecting who they are as a First Nations Child,” said Minster Gull-Masty.
Every opportunity, every capacity created in local programing under this agreement aligns with protecting that cultural component.
“This agreement with Canada acknowledges that the jurisdiction to take care of children belongs with the Nation and that will be done in collaboration with child welfare agencies,” explained Reginal Chief Benedict. “We know that these systems have not supported our children in so many ways.”
First Nation, Inuit and Metis have the youngest population in Canada with about 28 per cent under the age of 25 according to the 2021 census, but are 14 times more likely to end up in foster care then non-Indigenous youth.
Vastly overrepresented in foster care, Indigenous children account for 7.7 per cent of all children under 15, but 53.8 per cent of kids in care are First Nation, Inuit or Metis.
Just over half of those children were placed with non-Indigenous foster families.
In Ontario, Indigenous children make up about 4.1 per cent of children under the age of 15 but 30 per cent of foster children are Indigenous, which includes First Nation, Inuit and Metis.
In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children on reserves by underfunding the child welfare system through design and management.
Among the discriminatory practices found, the Federal government did not provide adequate funding for prevention services and incentivized placing children in care with reimbursement of certain costs.
While the Chiefs of Ontario, the Nishanabee Aski Nation and The Caring Society had negotiated a national agreement with Canada in 2024, it was ultimately rejected by leadership at the Assembly of First Nations national assembly. Chiefs of Ontario decided to move forward with a regional agreement for Ontario.
Regional Chief Abram Benedict said there is still a lot of work to do.
“It doesn’t just mean the discrimination is going to end, we have to build capacity in our communities, we have to develop community laws so communities can determine (what) that level of care is going to look like, what the jurisdiction looks like. This agreement with the federal government embraces that, acknowledges that jurisdiction has always existed there but also provides those financial resources to ensure there is enough money to be able to do that.”
But a week on — questions remain on how this new deal will be implemented.
Cindy Blackstock, McGill professor and champion for First Nations children and founder of the Caring Society has been working for decades to bring equality to First Nations children in care or at home.
In 2007, the Caring Society established Jordan’s Principle, after a severely disabled young boy, Jordan River Anderson, was forced to spend over two years in hospital while the federal and provincial governments disputed who was responsible for funding his in-home care.
This agreement has a term of eight years with an $8.5 billion commitment. Blackstock said this is a vital start and is hopeful that Canada will follow through on their obligations in this agreement and release the money as soon as possible so communities can make the most of those eight years.
“Canada has to make sure they are standing there at the ready to support these families because they have been harming them ever since Confederation and they have to be there to help repair that damage, to set people up to build on their strengths and build on these wonderful cultures in Ontario,” said Blackstock.
One the main pillars of this new agreement is including preventative care funds. “It supports the families who are at high risk of their children being placed in care,” explained Regional Chief Benedict.
Another major pillar is post-majority support funding, that will improve the outcomes for youth, by allowing communities to not only decide what happens before and during care placement but what comes after.
In the past, when a youth turned 18, they were often left to navigate transitioning into adulthood on their own. With minimal or no support from the agencies for post secondary education, finding a job, or general guidance, unless they already had a network like friends or extended families.
“Anybody who’s had an 18-year-old in their house knows they still need quite a bit of support,” said Blackstock.
Much of the groundwork has already been done by agencies like the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation. First Nations know what their children need to grow and thrive and over the next eight years, will now have the funding and jurisdiction to implement policies and infrastructure to meet those needs in conjunction with the federal government and other child welfare agencies.
There is a 30-day appeal period during which any stakeholder can appeal. Minister Gull-Masty said because this is a preliminary decision that’s been issued by the CRTC, they have to wait for the detailed version.
“There may be other recommendations within the detailed version that explain how the decision was made. And the real hard work starts and we get to sit down with the community, help to support them,” explained Minister Gull-Masty. “It’s about empowering the community to take this space, be able to be very clear in what their objective is, how they want to move things forward.”
Gull-Masty said that this agreement and these changes will give an opportunity to understand and research why it is successful when First Nations are given the right to make decisions and determine for themselves what the next steps are for children in care, which is a right First Nation parents did not have historically.
It will also provide an opportunity to gather data on care and care outcomes that can be shared with government agencies and other Nations who are working towards their own child welfare and care plans.
“Canada following the legal orders would not only help First Nations children and families recover from the multigenerational effects of residential schools and put into reality the Truth and Reconciliation commissions call to action, it would also save Canadians money,” Blackstock explained. “When Canada turns its back on evidence-based solutions, it ends up costing children their childhoods and their lives and its costs Canadians much more.”
Families and communities could see the effects of this agreement in six to 12 months after funding is released.
Community agencies can begin implementing new care plans, with the objective of bringing equality to care and improving the lives of children across the province.
