Feds commit $32B to close First Nations infrastructure gap, $3B for health services
- On Thursday, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak urged sustained funding for First Nations services and infrastructure, warning that the gap between Indigenous communities and Canada will continue to grow without targeted investments.
- The Assembly of First Nations and the Conference Board of Canada estimate closing the infrastructure gap requires around $375 billion over 10 years, as communities struggle with inadequate housing, schools, and water treatment.
- Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced budget commitments including $32 billion over 10 years for infrastructure, $5.8 billion for education, and $6 billion for Jordan's Principle over six years to support First Nations children.
- Judy Wilson, co-chair of the B.C. Specific Claims Working Group, criticized the budget's 'Masters of our destiny' slogan as 'astonishingly tone deaf' while warning that Bill C-39 'tramples over' Indigenous rights.
- Woodhouse Nepinak stated these investments will not fully address the 'widening service and infrastructure gaps' that First Nations face daily, stressing that reconciliation requires honoring past obligations.
36 Articles
36 Articles
The Toronto Star
Feds commit $32B to close First Nations infrastructure gap, $3B for health services
OTTAWA - The new federal budget commits $32 billion over 10 years to repair, replace and build First Nations infrastructure — though the Assembly of First Nations says the work
Indigenous groups demand $376bn infrastructure funding in federal budget
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has formally requested that the federal government's upcoming budget include a fully funded, ten-year strategy to close an infrastructure deficit on First Nations lands, currently estimated at more than $376 billion. This demand comes ahead of Budget Day, with National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak stating that the scale of the shortfall requires immediate legislative and financial action to meet Canada's 2030…
National First Nations and Inuit organizations are also calling for changes to social programs.
Infrastructure gap and specific claims top issues for Assembly of First Nations for federal budget
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says in the 2026 federal budget she wants to see sustained funding for First Nations services and infrastructure and the resources First Nations need to file specific claims.
AFN, ITK, MNC press feds to come through in upcoming budget
The Assembly of First Nations is calling on the federal government to use Thursday’s budget to set out a fully funded plan, developed with First Nations, to close an infrastructure gap now estimated at more than $376 billion. National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said at a news conference Tuesday that the scale of the infrastructure gap shortfall demands immediate and sustained attention. “The AFN estimates put the First Nations infrastructure …
The AFN estimates that this amount, spread over 10 years, will not be sufficient.
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