Grants to Support Child and Family Services Coordination Agreements and Related Fiscal Arrangements: Interim Terms and Conditions

Introduction

As stated in An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act), the Government of Canada is committed to working in cooperation and partnership with Indigenous peoples to support the dignity and well-being of Indigenous children and youth and their families and communities, as well as the achievement of their full potential. The Government of Canada is committed to respecting, strengthening and building on the accomplishments of Indigenous peoples in this regard, to achieving reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis through renewed nation-to-nation, government-to-government and Inuit-Crown relationships and facilitating the self-determination of Indigenous communities when it comes to child and family services.

In line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by Canada, Indigenous children have the right to non-discrimination, the right to grow up in their families, the opportunity to participate in matters affecting them and the right to grow up with members of their group, like all other children.

The Act came into force on January 1, 2020. It contributes to the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and establishes national principles such as substantive equality, cultural continuity and the best interests of the child. These principles have been established to help guide the provision of Indigenous child and family services while supporting Indigenous groups and communities transition toward exercising partial or full child and family services jurisdiction at a pace that they choose.

This grant program supports the implementation of the Act by enabling the conclusion of coordination agreements and associated fiscal arrangements for Indigenous communities exercising their jurisdiction over child and family services.

The coordination agreement discussion process is focused on coordinating and funding the exercise of jurisdiction over child and family services and enables Indigenous governing bodies (IGBs) to work with delegated agencies, as determined under the Indigenous law and service delivery model.

Legal and policy authority

Authority is provided under the following:

• Department of Indigenous Services Act, S.C., 2019, c. 29, s.336
• An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, S.C. 2019, c. 24

Purpose, program objective and expected results

The purpose of this grant program is to fund and support activities that will allow early adopter Indigenous communities to implement their child and family services legislation, as established through coordination agreements and support fiscal arrangements, where applicable until new terms and conditions to implement the Act are co-developed with Indigenous partners.

The grant provides funding for sectoral self-government, specifically in the domain of child and family services. The community will therefore define indicators and report on results that it deems valuable.

Expected results of the implementation of coordination agreements include the timely transfer of funding in accordance with fiscal arrangements, timely support for Indigenous communities in the operationalization of their child and family services laws and the safety and well-being of Indigenous children.

This initiative aligns with the Children and Families service area of the Departmental Results Framework as it contributes to the following result: Indigenous Peoples are culturally safe and socially well. This initiative also aligns with the Indigenous Well-Being and Self-Determination core responsibility as it provides support for governance capacity to advance self-determination in child and family services provision through coordination agreements.

Eligible recipients

Indigenous Governing Bodies (IGBs) as defined in the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families: a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Type of activities and nature of eligible expenditures

Initiatives and activities relating to the implementation of an Indigenous group, community or people's legislative authority in relation to child and family services, as may be identified and agreed upon through coordination agreements and supporting fiscal arrangement with Indigenous governing bodies.

This includes funding to support the development, establishment or operation of child and family services programs and service delivery models, and related governance and administrative structures. The scope of eligible expenditures reflects a range of functions, such as:

• prevention
• post-majority supports
• First Nations and community representative services
• protection (including maintenance and care, least disruptive measures, and operations and maintenance)
• top-ups (including funding for information technology, results and emergency management)
• capital assets
• liability insurance
• community based adjudication and dispute resolution mechanisms
• governance
• initial startup

Stacking limits

The stacking limit is the maximum level of funding to a recipient from all sources, including federal, provincial, territorial and municipal, for the same purpose and shall not exceed 100%.

Method for determining the amount of funding

The annual amount of funding for each IGB is established via the coordination agreement process. IGBs, authorized by section 35 rights-holding groups, communities or peoples, are expected to come to the coordination agreement discussions with their own approaches in the context of developing a fiscal arrangement to implement their needs-based child and family service model.

ISC maintains a methodology for assessing proposed budgets of Indigenous governing bodies and outlining potential federal funding under the fiscal arrangement. In assessing potential funding, Canada considers the application of adjustments to account for remoteness, inflation and population growth.

This approach is not intended to directly assess the cost of implementing a proposed service delivery model under an Indigenous law. Rather, it is intended to inform discussions amongst Canada, the Indigenous governing body, and the relevant province or territory regarding how available funding could be structured to support implementation through a fiscal arrangement. Ultimately, Canada seeks to achieve consensus with Indigenous governing bodies and the relevant province or territory on appropriate levels of funding.

New coordination agreements and fiscal arrangements, including renewals, are to be established for a minimum term of five years, where possible.

Where applicable, year 1 of the agreement is adjusted incrementally for subsequent fiscal years. Where applicable, a schedule of funding pertaining to the fiscal years will be established via the coordination agreement process.

Eligible federal support responsibilities, as determined and agreed-to in a coordination agreement, may be funded retroactively to the later of the effective date of an Indigenous law obtaining the force of federal law or the beginning of the fiscal year in which the coordination agreement is signed.

Maximum amount payable

The maximum amount payable to any recipient will be $125,000,000 per year.

Basis for payment

To meet the objectives of the grant and to maximize flexibility and predictability, a single installment may be made available at the beginning of each fiscal year, if requested by the IGB, provided the eligibility requirements and terms and conditions of the funding agreement are met.

Application requirements and assessment criteria

IGBs express interest in receiving funding through this grant by submitting a request under section 20(2) of the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families. Canada then assesses whether the group on whose behalf a notice or a request under section 20 of the Act was submitted is a section 35 rights holding group and whether the entity that submitted the notice or request is duly authorized to represent the group.

Funding will be made to eligible recipients carrying out an activity as defined through their coordination agreements and fiscal arrangements.

Ongoing assessment will take place to ensure that recipients continue to meet the eligibility criteria and are authorized to represent their section 35 rights-holding collectives on an annual basis. This assessment will be undertaken through existing processes, including the renewal or amendment of annual fiscal arrangements, and may be supported by existing documentation (for example, a written constitution), rather than requiring a new record of authorization prepared for the purposes of the funding request.

Due diligence and reporting

Recipients will be required to make annual audited financial statements and annual reports publicly available and accessible, in electronic format, to their citizens and Canada within 120-days of the end of the fiscal year.

Official languages

Where the recipient's activities may be delivered to members of either official language community, a clause may, as appropriate, require that access to services from the recipient be provided in both official languages. In addition, the department will ensure that the design and the delivery of programs respect the obligations of the Government of Canada as set out in part VII of the Official Languages Act. Part roman numeral 4IV of the Official Languages Act does not apply when funding is further distributed by an IGB to service providers.

Redistribution of funding

Where a recipient delegates authority or further distributes grant funding to an agency or a third party, such as an authority, board, committee or other entity authorized to act on behalf of the recipient, the recipient shall remain liable to the department for the performance of its obligations under the funding agreement. Neither the objectives of the programs and services nor the expectations of transparent, fair and equitable services shall be compromised by any delegation or redistribution of grant funding.

Recipients have full independence in the selection of such third parties and/or delegated agencies and will not be acting as an agent of the government of Canada in making these redistributions.

Other terms and conditions

None.

Effective date

These terms and conditions came into effect on July 8, 2026.