Indigenous Services Canada's 2025-2026 Departmental Plan: At a glance
A departmental plan describes a department's priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.
- Indigenous Services Canada's (ISC) mandate and operating context
Key priorities
ISC's top priorities for 2025-26 are as follows:
- Support and improve Indigenous health and well-being by fully implementing Joyce's Principle and addressing anti-Indigenous racism in health systems, supporting access to essential primary care in remote and isolated communities, and advancing holistic, Indigenous-led models of care.
- Continue to ensure Indigenous children get the care and support they need to thrive and address gaps in service by fully implementing Jordan's Principle for First Nations children, working with Inuit partners to co-develop a new model for the Inuit Child First Initiative.
- Work with Inuit partners to eliminate tuberculosis across Inuit Nunangat by 2030.
- Continue to invest in distinctions-based Mental Health and Wellness approaches to meet the needs of First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation, including culturally appropriate substance use prevention and treatment services and trauma-informed cultural and emotional supports.
- Co-develop policy options for the First Nations and Inuit components of a new and more holistic long-term and continuing care framework, and a Métis Long-Term Continuing Care Framework.
- Continue co-development work with Indigenous organizations on long-term, distinctions-based funding frameworks, and continue work on the first five-year legislative review of the provisions and operations of An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children, youth and families in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples.
- Aim to close the infrastructure gap by 2030 by supporting community-led decision-making on First Nations infrastructure projects, including high-priority repairs and renovations, multi-year capital projects, education facilities and housing.
- Work to ensure clean water access in First Nation communities by eliminating long-term drinking water advisories on reserve.
- Collaborate with Indigenous partners to advance the modernization of the governance funding programs.
- Support Indigenous-led policy development for an Economic Reconciliation Framework and respond to key policy priorities advanced by Indigenous partners. ISC will also promote inclusivity in business support programs by providing capacity supports, particularly for small and remote First Nation and Inuit communities.
- Advance the priorities of First Nation, Inuit and Métis Nation partners and communities to reclaim jurisdiction in the areas that matter to them, such as child and family services, education, health care, policing, tax and the administration of justice.
- Continue to support First Nation-led processes to transition away from the Indian Act by exploring alternative processes for topics such as continuing to address inequities in registration and band membership and First Nation lead enumeration.
ISC is committed to honouring the duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples and actively supporting the implementation of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Calls for Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls (MMIWG) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) (PDF) through the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act) in the design and delivery of all programs and policies, both now and in the future. Existing programs within each service area are actively contributing to these commitments, with the details available under the "Related government priorities" sections of this report.
Highlights
In 2025-26, total planned spending (including internal services) for ISC is 25,321,435,316 and total planned full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 8,340. For complete information on ISC's total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.
The following provides a summary of the department's planned achievements for 2025-26 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department's core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.
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Core Responsibility: Indigenous Well-Being and Self-Determination
- Planned spending: $24,962,596,079
- Planned human resources: 6,251
- Departmental results:
Service Area: Health
- Departmental Result 1: Indigenous Peoples are physically well
- Departmental Result 2: Indigenous Peoples are mentally well
- Departmental Result 3: Indigenous Peoples have access to quality federally-funded health services
Service Area: Children and Families
- Departmental Result 4: Indigenous Peoples are culturally safe and socially well
Service Area: Education
- Departmental Result 5: Indigenous students are progressing in their education
Service Area: Infrastructure and Environments
- Departmental Result 6: Indigenous communities have sustainable land management and infrastructure
Service Area: Economic Development
- Departmental Result 7: Indigenous communities are progressing in their business and economic growth
Service Area: Governance
- Departmental Result 8: Indigenous communities have governance capacity and support for self-determination
In 2025-26, ISC is continuing work to fulfill its core responsibility: Indigenous well-being and self-determination. The department is mandated to ensure that First Nations, Inuit and Métis people have access to eligible services that address socio-economic gaps in health and well-being between Indigenous individuals and other Canadians. These socio-economic gaps result from historical and ongoing systemic racism and discrimination rooted in the impacts of colonialism. The department is also striving to contribute to the Government of Canada's goal to right past and current wrongs and renew the relationship with Indigenous Peoples. This goal will be realized through the gradual transfer of departmental responsibilities to Indigenous organizations, along with co-development, engagement, and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, provinces and territories, and by recognizing and promoting Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing. Service delivery linked to advancing health and well-being, strengthening families, improving education outcomes, helping build sustainable communities, increasing economic development, and supporting Indigenous communities' self-determination must be Indigenous-led and culturally-relevant.
In 2025-26, the department will continue to work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners to ensure access to high-quality and culturally relevant health services, and advance pathways for Indigenous Peoples to have greater control over the health services in their communities. ISC will focus on addressing systemic racism in health systems, supporting Health Transformation initiatives, and implementing the Indigenous Health Equity Fund.
ISC will work to improve access to quality health services and reduce health disparities, recruiting and supporting frontline healthcare workers in communities, collaborating with First Nations and Inuit on tailored mental health and wellness initiatives and improving client access to the Supplementary Health Benefits Program (also known as Non-Insured Health Benefits). Efforts will also address health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, environmental risks, and the health-related climate change impacts.
ISC will continue to support the safety and well-being of First Nation children, youth, young adults, families, and communities living on reserve and in the Yukon through the First Nations Child and Family Services Program. ISC maintains its commitment to fully implementing the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and advancing the reform of the Program.
ISC will continue to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis groups, communities and Peoples in exercising jurisdiction over child and family services through the framework of an Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families. ISC will continue advancing coordination agreements with Indigenous governing bodies. In collaboration with Indigenous stakeholders and provinces and territories, ISC will also conduct nation-wide engagement through the five-year review of the Act to allow the department to examine the successes and challenges of the Act's implementation to date.
ISC will continue decreasing socio-economic gaps in education by supporting First Nations control over elementary and secondary education, transferring responsibilities, and promoting self-determination through Regional Education Agreements, self-governing agreements and modern treaties. Distinctions-based Post-Secondary Education Strategies will enhance access to and success for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation students.
ISC will support developing reliable, community-led infrastructure by addressing immediate needs and local priorities through planning, construction, and maintenance efforts. To address housing needs, $277.8 million will fund 75 Indigenous-led projects with an expected completion by March 31, 2026, using the "For Indigenous, By Indigenous" approach, creating over 3,800 safe and affordable housing units in urban, rural, and northern areas.
ISC will support First Nations in addressing colonial impacts on sustainable development, environment and management of reserve lands by increasing their control over reserve lands and resources. Through the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, ISC and the Lands Advisory Board and Resource Centre will assist communities reclaiming jurisdiction. The Reserve Land and Environment Management Program will strengthen First Nations' capacity to manage their reserve lands, resources, and environment under the Indian Act, in collaboration with the National Aboriginal Lands Managers Association.
ISC will address colonial impacts on Indigenous economic prosperity by enhancing support for Indigenous businesses and communities through Access to Capital, and Access to Business Opportunities. ISC will also improve procurement access for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis businesses through ongoing efforts to co-develop a Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy.
In 2025-26, ISC will continue to work to dismantle the impacts of colonialism in legislation, policies and practices by supporting Indigenous self-determination and the inherent right to self-government, advancing capacity development, facilitating Canada's commitment to transition away from the Indian Act, supporting Indigenous control of the design and delivery of services, and managing relationships with co-development partners:
- Barriers to implementing the plans and priorities of communities will be addressed through supports such as the Community Development Wrap-Around Initiative. Through this initiative, the department is working alongside 22 First Nation communities to provide support that addresses community identified priorities through the leveraging of partnerships and by bridging project gaps through flexible funding.
- ISC will advance Indigenous data sovereignty by developing policy guidance on sharing departmental data with Indigenous partners, clarifying the legal framework for transferring data to Indigenous partners in connection with transfer of responsibility for services, supporting new and existing data sharing requests and providing leadership for other federal departments and agencies through the Working Group on Indigenous Data Sovereignty.
- Predictable and flexible funding provided through the New Fiscal Relationship Grant will provide the means for eligible First Nations to design and deliver those services aligned with community priorities.
- Indian Act alternative processes will be explored, including policy and legislative initiatives that advance self-government, rights-based negotiations, and the transfer of responsibilities.
In 2025-26, ISC will remain steadfast in its commitment to advancing Indigenous well-being and self-determination by addressing the systemic impacts of colonialism and fostering Indigenous-led solutions. By prioritizing Health Transformation, education, infrastructure, economic development, and child and family services, the department aims to close socio-economic gaps between Indigenous communities and other Canadians. Collaborative initiatives will strengthen Indigenous governance and self-determination. With a focus on culturally relevant services, equitable funding, and co-developed policies, ISC is dedicated to creating a future where Indigenous Peoples control their lives, lands, and livelihoods.
More information about Indigenous Well-Being and Self-Determination can be found in the full Indigenous Services Canada: 2025-26 Departmental Plan.