# data[].attributes.body
- Indigenous people were almost twice as likely to live in crowded housing, compared with the non-Indigenous.
- one in six Indigenous people lived in crowded housing that was considered not suitable for the number of people who lived there.
-Multigenerational households were the most common living arrangement among First Nations people living in crowded housing.

# data[].attributes.body
- this crisis is because of unregulated and defective water treatment systems and have seen little to no maintenance despite years of empty promises.
- The water that is most ofter used contains polluants and radicals within the majority of the rivers surrounding the reserves
-there is still 51 long-term drinking water advisories in place with the government

# data[].attributes.body
- The Government of Canada did a new legislation to reduce the number of Indigenous children and youth in care and improve child and family services in 2020.
- More than half of kids in foster care are Indigenous. Going in foster care cause that Indigenous children won't learn about their culture.
- The population of Indigenous is still growing so that means there could be even more children in foster care in the future

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-rate for Indigenous women that is higher than the overall rate in Canada and Half of the homicides of Indigenous women were committed by a family member.
-Half of the homicides of Indigenous women were committed by a family member
-The statistics can't tell the traumatising experiences of the families and communities who have lost a loved one and how the kids have traumatising exprerience and trauma.

# data[].attributes.body
- one indigenous out of two got a job! That means that the second person live in poverty trying to get enough food and an a place where to live.
-with the covid, there was a lot of indegenous that lost their jobs so there was even more indigenous that didn't got a job
-First Nations men were more likely to be employed than women First Nations women were more likely to work part-time than First Nations men.

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- I have found that Indeginous have higher suicide rate because of poverty, lack of access to healthcare and sexual and physical abuse.
- Suicide among First Nations aged 15 to 24 years in Canada is five to six times higher than non-Indigenous peoples. Inuit is even more!
- We see it as statistics but there is a person behind every suicide and their deaths meant an incredible loss to family. friends, community and the society at large.”

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suicide-among-indigenous-peoples-in-canada

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Suicide among Indigenous Peoples in Canada

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This article contains sensitive material that may not be suitable for all audiences. To reach the Canada Suicide Prevention Service, contact 1-833-456-4566.…

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Mental wellness resources and crisis help for First Nations people, Métis and Inuit
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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the review of preliminary findings and/or draft versions of the report by Indigenous organizations, including Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Métis National Council, and the National Association of Friendship Centres, and federal departments including Indigenous Services Canada and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. The analysis and the report were greatly strengthened by the suggestions and recommendations provided in the process. We also thank Jodie Golden, Public Health Agency of Canada ( PHAC) for reviewing the draft report for safe messaging.

Abstract

Suicide rates have consistently been shown to be higher among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada than the rate among non-Indigenous people; however, suicide rates vary by community, Indigenous group, age group and sex. The historical and ongoing impacts of colonization, forced placement of Indigenous children in residential schools in the 19th and 20th centuries, removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities during the "Sixties scoop" and the forced relocation of communities has been well documented. These resulted in the breakdown of families, communities, political and economic structures; loss of language, culture and traditions; exposure to abuse; intergenerational transmission of trauma; and marginalization, which are suggested to be associated with the high rates of suicide. While suicide among Indigenous people has been examined previously, studies were based on a decades-old cohort or used an area-based geozones approach. Past studies also examined suicides among only one or two Indigenous groups using the same methodology. Finally, they did not examine suicide among Indigenous people for some geographies such as on and off reserve, rural areas and small, medium and large population centres.

This article attempts to fill some of these knowledge gaps using the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC), resulting from a record integration between the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) and the Canadian Vital Statistics Database (CVSD). It presents suicide rates for the 2011 to 2016 time period among self-identifying First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and non-Indigenous people in private dwellings in Canada. It also explores the influence of socioeconomic factors in the disparity in risk of suicide between First Nations people, Métis, Inuit and non-Indigenous people in Canada.

Suicide rates among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit were significantly higher than the rate among non-Indigenous people. The rate among First Nations people (24.3 deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk) was three times higher than the rate among non-Indigenous people (8.0 deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk). Among First Nations people living on reserve, the rate was about twice as high as that among those living off reserve. However, suicide rates varied by First Nations band, with just over 60% of bands having a zero suicide rate. The rate among Métis (14.7 Note E: Use with caution deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk) was approximately twice as high as the rate among non-Indigenous people. Among Inuit, the rate was approximately nine times higher than the non-Indigenous rate (72.3 versus 8.0 deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk). Suicide rates and disparities were highest in youth and young adults (15 to 24 years) among First Nations males and Inuit male and females.

Socioeconomic factors, including household income, labour force status, level of education, marital status and geographic factors such as living on or off reserve (First Nations people) and community size (Inuit) accounted for a notable proportion of the disparity in risk of death by suicide among First Nations people (78%), Métis (37%) and Inuit (40%) adults, 25 years or older. However, due to limitations of the data, the role of other previously-identified factors such as historical and intergenerational trauma, community distress, cultural continuity, family strength and mental wellness were not explored here.

The findings from this study could contribute further to the understanding of suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada, particularly with respect to the variability in suicide rates and socioeconomic factors associated with the disparity in suicide risk.

Introduction

First Nations people living on and off reserve, Métis and Inuit, die by suicide at a higher rate than non-Indigenous people. These suicides not only result in loss to family, friends and peers leading to immense grief and bereavement, but also to the community and society at large, in particular when the deceased is a young person. The impact of suicide is more widespread and severe in small Indigenous communities where many people are related and many experience similar personal and collective adversity.

The suicide rate for children and youth was previously reported to be 10 times higher among males and 22 times higher among females between 2005 and 2007 in areas with a high percentage of First Nations people compared with low-percentage areas. In Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland made up of the Inuvialuit Region (northwest part of Northwest Territories), Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Québec), and Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador), the suicide rate among children and youth was 33 times higher than for the rest of Canada between 2004 and 2008. In fact, suicide is one of the leading causes of death among children and youth in areas with a high proportion of First Nations people and in Inuit Nunangat.

In adults, the suicide rates (1991 to 2006) among First Nations people and Métis have been reported to be twice as high as that among non-Indigenous adults. The suicide rate among adults in Inuit Nunangat (1999 to 2003) was four times higher than the rate among all adults in Canada; the disparity was greater among men than women.

It is important to note, however, that national level suicide rates may underestimate regional or community level differences. For example, previous reports have shown that suicide rates among First Nations youth in British Columbia range from 0 to 633 deaths per 100,000 people by tribal council. In fact, the majority of these tribal councils had a zero or very low suicide rate. A similar regional variance has been seen among Inuit communities in Nunavut. The suicide rate varied from under 50 deaths per 100,000 in Whale Cove to just over 250 deaths per 100,000 people in Qikiqtarjuaq.

Several representatives of Indigenous peoples and governments, communities and government agencies have developed programs, policies or strategies to address the high suicide rate among First Nations people, Inuit and Métis. Development and evaluation of these require timely data on suicide rates. Many existing estimates of suicide rates are based on an older cohort (1991 Census cohort), which excluded non-tax filers and those under 25, or are from studies that used an area-based geozones approach. The latter classified areas with higher proportions of First Nations residents as First Nations "identity areas" or examined mortality rate in Inuit Nunangat as a proxy for the rate among Inuit. These approaches may have led to under or over estimation of suicide rates. In addition, past reports have only estimated suicide rates among one or two Indigenous groups using the same methodology. Finally, there are gaps in knowledge of suicide rates among Indigenous people for certain geographical areas, including urban areas and on or off reserve.

This article presents suicide rates among self-identifying First Nations, Métis, Inuit and non-Indigenous peoples, who lived in private dwellings (i.e., excluding those who were in collective dwellings and institutions), for the 2011 to 2016 time period. These findings are based on the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC), which was developed by integrating records in the the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) and the Canadian Vital Statistics - Deaths Database (CSVD from 2011 to 2016). Suicides that occurred over the follow up period of 5.63 years (from Census day on May 10, 2011 to end of follow-up on December 31, 2016) were used to generate age-standardized and age-specific mortality rates. These are presented as estimated number of deaths by suicide per 100,000 person-years at risk. The person-year concept is often used in cohort studies and represents unit of time when individuals are at risk of dying, and can be roughly understood as persons per year. Specifically, the article (1) presents suicide rates among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit alongside comparisons with the suicide rates of non-Indigenous people to explore disparities, a better understading of which could inform prevention strategies, (2) presents the estimated proportion of First Nations bands that experienced no suicides as an estimate of the variability in suicide rates, and (3) explores the role of socioeconomic and geographic factors in explaining the excess mortality from suicide among the three groups.

Results

Suicide among First Nations people in Canada

In the current analyses, among the 851,280 First Nations people (based on population estimates using the 2011 CanCHEC and its weights), including status and non-status individuals, living on and off reserve and in private dwellings in 2011, an estimated 1,180 people died by suicide between 2011 and 2016. This resulted in an age-standardized suicide rate of 24.3 deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk (Table 1), which was three times higher than the suicide rate among non-Indigenous people (8.0). The suicide rate was higher among males than females (29.6 versus 19.5, respectively). This pattern is similar to that seen among non-Indigenous people among whom males (12.3) also had a higher suicide rate than females (3.9). However, these numbers indicate that the disparity in suicide rates - measured by dividing the suicide rate among First Nations people by that among non-Indigenous people (or rate ratios [ RR]) - between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples is higher among females than males (RR = 5.0 among First Nations females and RR = 2.4 among First Nations males; Table 1).

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Suicide rates were highest among youth aged 15 to 24 (48.7; non age-standardized) (data not shown) when compared with other age groups. Suicide rates were lower among the older age groups. They were significantly higher among First Nations people than non-Indigenous people in most age groups under 45 years of age, but the disparities were widest among those under 15 years ( RR = 8.9) and 15 to 24 years ( RR = 6.3) (data not shown). This was particularly apparent among females between 15 and 24 years of age ( RR = 12.0; Table A.1 in appendix).

The suicide rate was nearly twice as high among First Nations people living on reserve than among First Nations people living off reserve (non age-standardized rate of 34.1 versus 19.5, respectively). Among on-reserve First Nations people, suicide rates were highest for males aged 15 to 24 years (78.8) (Chart 1). Rates were lower in the older age groups among both males and females on reserve (Table A.2 in appendix). Disparities were particularly elevated among 15 to 24-year-old First Nations females living on reserve ( RR = 15.8) in comparison to non-Indigenous females across Canada. Disparities were smaller in the older age groups, but continued to be seen until age 55 for females and age 45 for males. For those aged 55 and older, suicide rates were not statistically different between on-reserve First Nations and non-Indigenous people. A similar comparison to rates among First Nations people living off reserve was not done since most age-specific estimates were not published due to low cell counts or precision (table A.2 in appendix).

No significant differences were seen in the suicide rates among First Nations people (on and off reserve combined) by province and territory. However, in every province, the suicide rate among First Nations people was higher than the non-Indigenous rate (Atlantic provinces were grouped together to increase sample size; suicide rates were not reportable for the non-Indigenous population in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut). And, the rate ratios were notably higher in the Prairie provinces. It was 4.6, 4.5 and 3.5 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, respectively. In other provinces, it ranged from 1.9 to 2.6. Suicide rates did not differ significantly by type of population centre. It was 28.8 among First Nations people in rural areas, 22.9 Note E: Use with caution among those in small population centres and 18.8 Note E: Use with caution among those in large population centres. The suicide rate among First Nations people in each of these areas was significantly higher compared with non-Indigenous rates (9.3 for rural areas, 9.0 for small population centres and 7.2 for large population centres).

These national and provincial level estimates, while useful, underestimate the variability in the suicide rates among individual First Nations communities. Suicide rates were estimated at the band level using a geographic approach (for more details, please refer to the methods section). Of the just over 600 First Nations bands in Canada, 555 were associated with reserves that were enumerated in the 2011 NHS and with individuals in the CanCHEC cohort. Just over 60% of First Nations bands had experienced no suicides between 2011 and 2016. The proportion of bands without suicides, when examined in the context of the overall on-reserve suicide rate among First Nations people (34.1) highlights the obscuring of variability in the national level estimate. This proportion of bands with zero suicide rate varied by province and territory. A larger proportion of bands in the Atlantic provinces (55%), Ontario (71%), Saskatchewan (53%), British Columbia (78%), Yukon (80%) and Northwest Territories (74%) had zero suicide rates. In the other provinces, the proportion ranged from 39% to 44%. It should be noted that 31 reserves were incompletely enumerated in the 2011 Census many of which were in Ontario and Québec (a brief description of these reserves can be found in the methods section), and were not included in this analysis. Also, band members who did not live on their band's reserve at the time of the Census were not included in the analysis.

Socioeconomic factors have previously been shown to be associated with suicide among Indigenous people in North America. To examine if similar patterns were evident in the 2011 CanCHEC cohort, the role of individual socioeconomic factors such as household income, labour force status, level of education, marital status and geographic factors such as living on or off reserve on risk of death by suicide were examined for First Nations people aged 25 years or older. After adjusting for age and sex, the risk of suicide among First Nations adults was twice as high as that among non-Indigenous adults (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.0; Table A.4 in appendix). Adjusting for household income resulted in a decrease in risk by 35%. After further adjusting for labour force status, level of education and marital status, First Nations adults were still at a higher risk of suicide than non-Indigenous adults ( HR = 1.4). Together, these factors accounted for 66% of the excess suicide risk. Further adjusting for living on and off reserve resulted in a HR of 1.2, which was not significantly different from 1.0. Together, all these factors accounted for 78% of the excess suicide risk among First Nations adults.

Suicide among Métis in Canada

Based on the current analysis, of the 452,985 self-identifying Métis (based on population estimates using the 2011 CanCHEC and its weights) who lived in private households in 2011, approximately 415 individuals died by suicide in the 2011 to 2016 period. As a result, the suicide rate was 14.7 Note E: Use with caution deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk (Table 2), which was nearly twice as high as the rate among non-Indigenous people (8.0). The rate among Métis males (22.6 Note E: Use with caution ) was more than three times higher than the rate among Métis females (7.2 Note E: Use with caution ). The suicide rate was nearly twice as high among Métis (22.6 Note E: Use with caution ) as non-Indigenous males (12.3). However, the suicide rates for Métis (7.2 Note E: Use with caution ) and non-Indigenous females (3.9) were not significantly different from each other.

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Among the provinces and territories, because of low counts when broken down, suicide rates for Métis could only be generated for Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia combined (Ontario and west). In these provinces, the rate among Métis (13.4 Note E: Use with caution ) were higher than that among non-Indigenous people (7.6). Suicide rates among Métis in rural (16.5 Note E: Use with caution ), small (12.8 Note E: Use with caution ) and large population centres (15.5 Note E: Use with caution ) were not significantly different. The rate among Métis in large population centres was higher than the rate among non-Indigenous people (7.2; marginally significant). Suicide rates could not be published for medium population centres due to low cell counts.

Among Métis adults over 25, after adjusting for age and sex, the risk of suicide was twice as high as that among non-Indigenous adults (hazard ratio = 1.9; Table A.4 in appendix). Adjusting for household income, labour force status, population centre type of place of residence, level of education and marital status accounted for 37% of excess suicide risk. The risk of suicide was 1.6 times higher among Métis than non-Indigenous people after adjusting for these factors.

Suicide among Inuit in Canada

There were approximately 59,220 Inuit in Canada in 2011 who lived in private households (based on population estimates using the 2011 CanCHEC and its weights). Among them, there were an estimated 250 deaths by suicide between 2011 and 2016. This lead to a suicide rate of 72.3 deaths per 100,000 person-years at risk (Table 3). This was nine times higher ( RR = 9.0) than the suicide rate among non-Indigenous people (8.0). The suicide rate was three times higher among Inuit males than Inuit females (109.3 versus 35.4 Note E: Use with caution , respectively).

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Suicide rates among Inuit were highest in youth; the highest suicide rate was seen among Inuit males between 15 and 24 years of age (363.2; non age-standardized) living in Inuit Nunangat (Chart 2). Publishable estimates could only be produced for Inuit females between the ages of 15 and 24 and 25 to 34. Suicide rate among females 15 to 24 years of age was 108.9 Note E: Use with caution , which was 33 times higher than non-Indigenous females of that age (Table A.3 in appendix).

Rates among Inuit were also compared by Inuit Nunangat region. Rates were significantly higher among Inuit in Nunatsiavut (188.2 Note E: Use with caution ; non age-standardized) than those in Nunavik (98.1) and Nunavut (94.0). Rates among Inuit in Inuvialuit region could not be published due to low reliability of estimates.

The national, Inuit Nunangat and Inuit regional level estimates underestimate the variation in rates among individual Inuit communities. Among the 50 Inuit communities, 11 communities had a suicide rate of zero. However, for most communities (66%), estimates were too unreliable to be published. It should be noted that some deaths may not have linked to the NHS and others may not have been in Vital Statistics at the time of data integration. The latter shortcoming has previously been reported by Jack Hicks. These exclusions may have biased the estimate of number of communities without suicides.

In multivariate analyses, among Inuit adults 25 years and older, the risk of death by suicide was 4.8 times higher than the risk among non-Indigenous adults, after accounting for age and sex (Table A.4 in appendix). After further adjusting for household income, labour force status, level of education and marital status, the hazard ratio decreased to 3.4 suggesting that these factors accounted for 37% of the excess risk of death by suicide among Inuit. After adjusting for size of community (population centre type), Inuit adults were still at 3.3 times higher risk of suicide than non-Indigenous adults ( HR = 3.3). All combined, these factors accounted for 40% of the excess risk of suicide among Inuit adults.

Discussion

The report is the first to examine suicide rates among all three Indigenous peoples, including First Nations people, Métis and Inuit, of different age groups and living in different geographies using one methodology. However, gaps in knowledge remain. Further research is needed to assess long-term trends and estimate the role of other risk and protective factors of suicide among Indigenous peoples, which should be done in consultation with First Nations people, Métis and Inuit, as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

In the current analysis, the suicide rates among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit were many times higher than the non-Indigenous rate during the 2011 to 2016 time period. The rates were highest among Inuit and, specifically, adolescents and young adults. The suicide rate among First Nations people living on reserve was higher than that among those living off reserve, and among males than females. The higher suicide rate among males has been attributed to their tendency to use more lethal methods and to the differential effect of specific stressors in the two sexes. However, greater disparities were observed among First Nations females, where higher suicide rates were seen when compared with non-Indigenous females. These patterns are similar to what has been previously reported.

Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Indigenous children under 15. The suicide rate among First Nations boys, nationally, was four times higher than among non-Indigenous boys. It was ten times higher among First Nations boys living on reserve. As with other national trends, this rate may obscure regional differences. Previously reports have suggested that in some remote First Nations communities in Ontario, under-15 suicide rates were nearly 50 times higher than non-Indigenous rates. And, among Inuit communities of Nunatsiavut, the age-specific disparity was largest among 10 to 19-year-olds relative to their non-Indigenous counterparts outside Inuit Nunangat ( RR = 15.8). Also, rate of death by suicide among Inuit children 10 to 14 years of age appears to be increasing since 1989 although significant fluctuations are seen across time. In line with these rates among children, suicidal ideation among grade 5 to 8 school children in Saskatoon was nearly twice as high among Indigenous children as non-Indigenous children after accounting for mental health, cognitive abilities and bullying experiences. While risk factors for suicide among children are numerous and complex, a recent report suggests that Inuit children and youth in Nunavut experience a lack of mental health services that are specific to them, culturally relevant and of adequate quality.

And, while time trends were not examined here, suicide attempts among First Nations people in British Columbia have been reported elsewhere to be declining. Risk of self-inflicted injury hospitalization among Registered Indians, and disparity between them and their non-Indigenous counterparts decreased between 1991 to 2010. However, this is in contrast to trends in remote First Nations communities in Ontario. There, Indigenous youth suicide was previously reported to be on the rise because of the emergence of suicide among communities that previously did not experience it, exposure to suicide or suicide attempts among family members and peers, and increase in clusters of suicides.

Methods

Data

The 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC) used here is a population-based integrated dataset that follows the non-institutional (household) population enumerated in the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) for different health outcomes such as mortality, cancer, and hospitalizations. Briefly, record integration for the 2011 CanCHEC was carried out using Statistics Canada's Social Data Linkage Environment (SDLE). The SDLE helps create linked population data files for social analysis through integration to the Derived Record Depository (DRD), a dynamic relational database containing only basic personal identifiers. Survey and administrative data are linked to the DRD using a generalized record integration software that supports deterministic and probabilistic integration.

The NHS is a voluntary survey, conducted in May 2011, of approximately 4.5 million (30%) private dwellings randomly selected from the 2011 Census of Population. The NHS covers all persons who usually live in Canada, including permanent and non-permanent residents, and individuals living on First Nations reserves, Métis settlements or Inuit communities. There were 36 incompletely enumerated First Nations reserves in the 2011 NHS. In 13 of these communities, enumeration was delayed because of forest fires in Northern Ontario and occurred at a later date. The NHS excludes residents of institutions (for example, hospitals, nursing homes, penitentiaries) and collective dwellings (for example, work camps, hotels, shelters).

Records for approximately 6.7 million NHS respondents were eligible for integration; 97% linked to the DRD using a probabilistic approach based on telephone number, surnames, given names, birthdate, and place of residence. No differences in integration rates were found by collection mode, province, sex, or birth decade. To ensure representativeness of the linked cohort, weights were calculated to adjust for non-integration.

To protect the confidentiality of Census respondents, data made available for analysis did not contain personal identifiers such as name, and address. In addition, estimates based on small cell counts (fewer than five deaths or fewer than 10 total individuals) were suppressed.

Variables

Self-reported Indigenous identity, age, sex, household income, labour force status, highest level of education, marital status and province of residence variables were available in the 2011 NHS dissemination dataset. Variables for the Inuit Nunangat regions were generated using Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) codes. Similarly, a variable for on and off-reserve areas of residence was generated using SGC. A binary suicide variable was created using ICD-10 codes in the "Underlying cause of death" variable in the CVSD. Generation of suicide and person-years at risk variables are described in the following section.

Estimation of weighted suicide rates

For suicide rate estimates, each person's time at risk of death by suicide was split into single years of follow-up, and within each year of follow-up, into durations before and after birth date. In the process, each person was aged on his or her birthday. This allows for the appropriate categorization into age groups for computing suicide rates. Weighted age-standardized suicide rates (ASMRs) (see figure 1 for a brief description of this measure) and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated. Those under the age of one were excluded from the analysis due to under-representation of this group in the integrated dataset. Briefly, ASMRs were computed by dividing the count of cohort members who died by suicide in the follow-up period by the total person-years at risk. Age standardization was done with age-specific mortality rates in 5-year age groups using the 2011 total Indigenous population as the reference population. Weighted age-specific suicide rates generated without age standardization were used for comparisons between age groups within an Indigenous group or between an Indigenous group and the non-Indigenous population. These rates were also used to compare suicide rates in the on and off-reserve First Nations populations since their age structures were somewhat similar in 2011 (median age: 23.9 and 27.1 years, respectively). Suicides were identified using the following International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revisions ( ICD-10) codes: X60-X84, Y87.0. For each member of the cohort, person-years of follow-up were calculated as the number of days from the beginning of the study period to the date of death or end of study divided by 365.25. Variance was calculated using 500 bootstrap weights.

Description for Figure 1
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Figure 1 is a schematic showing the method used to estimate the suicide rate using number of deaths as the numerator and person-years as the denominator. The schematic illustrates a hypothetical example with seven individuals who were "followed" from May 10, 2011 (Census day) to December 31, 2016 (end of follow-up period) to see if they had died. In this example, three of the seven individuals died during follow-up. Person 1, 4 and 7, who died during the follow-up period, each contributed 3.0, 1.5 and 4.2 person-years at risk, respectively, to the denominator. The others, who were alive as of December 31, 2016, each contributed 5.6 person-years to the denominator. In all, the seven individuals contributed 31.1 person-years to the denominator. The crude mortality rate is calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the total person-years contributed by the seven individuals, and multiplied by 100,000. In this hypothetical example, the crude suicide-related mortality rate is 9,646.3 deaths per 100,000 person-years of follow-up.

Age-standardized and age-specific suicide rates, expressed as the number of deaths by suicide per 100,000 person-years at risk, were generated by sex, Indigenous identity and select geographic areas. Indigenous identity, as self-reported in the 2011 NHS Survey, included: First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Multiple Indigenous identity, Indigenous identity responses not indicated elsewhere and non-Indigenous. However, in this paper, only estimates for single identity groups are presented. Geographic areas studied include: province/territory; on or off-reserve; rural areas or small, medium and large population centres, and for Inuit, inside/outside Inuit Nunangat and by the four regions of Inuit Nunangat (Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut, and the Inuvialuit region), as well as outside Inuit Nunangat. Rate ratios, or the ratio of suicide rate among First Nations people, Métis or Inuit over suicide rate among non-Indigenous people were computed to examine the magnitude of disparity in the Indigenous group compared to the non-Indigenous population. To estimate variance of the rate ratios, variance and covariance of the mortality rates in the Indigenous group of interest and non-Indigenous population were estimated using PROC RATIO in SAS-callable SUDAAN. Variance of the rate ratios was then computed using Taylor linearization and the variance and covariance estimates from PROC RATIO, and used in generating 95% confidence intervals.

Hypothesis testing was done to identify suicide rates that were significantly different from one another using p<0.05. The weighted number of suicides and suicide rates were not published if (1) the unweighted number of suicides in a cell was less than five, (2) the weighted population count in the cell were less than 10, or (3) coefficient of variance (CV) was greater than 33.3% (40% for those under 15 years). Weighted numbers of suicides were also randomly rounded to base five. ASMRs with CV greater than 16.6% and less than or equal to 33.3% are presented with an "E" to indicate that these should be used with caution.

Estimation of suicide rate by First Nations band

For estimating suicide rates by First Nations band, reserve CSDs associated with each band were grouped. Reserves that were shared by multiple bands were grouped separately. This was done for seven reserves. Three of these had a population of 10 or less. And, one was incompletely enumerated in the 2011 NHS. This grouping resulted in about 600 First Nations bands. Of these, 561 included individuals that were in the 2011 CanCHEC. Others were associated with reserves that were incompletely enumerated in the 2011 NHS or had participated in the 2011 Census and not the NHS. In the end, 555 bands were included in the analysis. Suicide rates were computed by First Nations band, from which the number and percentage of bands with a reportable zero suicide rate were identified. The percentage of bands with a zero suicide rate were calculated with and without the reserves that were associated with multiple bands and were found to be similar.

Multivariate analysis

To examine the role of socioeconomic and geographic factors in the excess risk of suicide among Indigenous people relative to non-Indigenous people, Cox proportional hazards modelling was performed. Analyses were restricted to those 25 years and older to allow for the use of labour force status, level of education and marital status as covariates. For this analysis, age at baseline on Census day, was used since other covariates also had the same reference period. Hazard ratios for suicide were estimated among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (with non-Indigenous people as the reference group). Covariates were entered sequentially into the model in this order: age group together with sex, household income quintile (based on after-tax income adjusted for economic family size), labour force status (employed, unemployed and not in the labour force), highest level of education (less than high school, high school, post-secondary education below Bachelor's level and university degree), marital status (never legally married or single, legally married and not separated, separated but still legally married, divorced or widowed) and living on or off reserve (for First Nations people) or in population centres or rural areas (for Métis and Inuit). Household income quintiles were generated for each province and territory separately to account for regional differences. In secondary analysis, household income was used as a continuous variable or household income quintiles were generated at the national level and used in place of the original income quintile variable to examine the robustness of the influence of this predictor on the relative risk of death by suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit. Covariates were chosen based on previous literature on the relationship between socioeconomic factors and suicide. and the availability of related variables in the 2011 NHS data.

From the hazard ratios (age and sex-adjusted and additionally adjusted for socioeconomic factors), the percent of excess risk of suicide among First Nations, Métis and Inuit people accounted for by household income, labour force status, highest level of education, marital status and geography was computed. The proportion of excess mortality explained was calculated as the difference between the age and sex-adjusted and the final hazard ratios, divided by the former minus 1. Analyses were not carried out separately by sex due to sample size limitations.

Assessing validity of suicide rates

Suicide rates based on the linked 2011 CanCHEC cohort were compared with previously generated estimates using different methodologies to assess validity.

The non age-standardized suicide rate for the total population of Canada between 2009 and 2013 was previously estimated to be 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people; in comparison, in the CanCHEC cohort, the overall suicide rate was 10.5 deaths per 100,000 person years between 2011 and 2016. While there are no published rates of suicide for First Nations people, Métis and Inuit for the 2011 to 2016 period, suicide rates for all individuals in Inuit Nunangat, which is home to 73% of Inuit in Canada, was previously estimated to be 83.5 deaths per 100,000 people. In the 2011 CanCHEC cohort, the rate was 83.5 deaths per 100,000 person years at risk. However, the estimates by Inuit Nunangat region between 2011 and 2016 (167.3 Note E: Use with caution in Nunatsiavut, 87.5 in Nunavik and 83.1 in Nunavut) were somewhat different in comparison to previous estimates from the 2009 to 2013 period (185.4, 98.3, 79.0, respectively). While, the estimates are similar, there are several potential reasons for this discrepancy between the two sets of estimates. While there is some overlap in time periods for the two estimates (2009 to 2013 for previous estimates and 2011 to 2016 for the estimates in this report), they are not identical. There is some year-to-year fluctuation in suicides rates. For example, in Nunavut, previous estimates suggest that the rate ranged from 58.2 to 108.5 deaths per 100,000 people. Some deaths that occurred between 2011 and 2016 were not linked to the 2011 NHS. Also, the CanCHEC cohort excludes institutional population (e.g., nursing homes, jails), and those living in collective dwellings (e.g., motels, hotels, rooming houses) at the time of census collection and those that were not enumerated by the 2011 NHS. The denominators used in the two studies are also different; in the previously published tables, the suicide rates are per 100,000 people; in the current study, the rates are per 100,000 person years.

Limitations

Several limitations of the analysis should be noted. Suicide rates presented in this article may underestimate the true rates because of (1) exclusion of the institutional population and population living in collective dwelling, (2) exclusion of persons not enumerated by the 2011 NHS including the homeless among whom Indigenous people are overrepresented, (3) non-integration of some deaths between 2011 and 2016 to the 2011 NHS, (4) potential integration error, (5) potential misclassification of suicides in the CVSD to avoid stigmatization or as a result of misclassification as an accident, or inability in ascribing a cause, etc., and (6) potentially missing deaths, due to processing delays, in Vital Statistics at the time of data integration. Furthermore, Indigenous identity in the Census is self-reported, which may have led to underestimation or overestimation of suicide rates in some Indigenous groups. Also, 36 Indian reserves and Indian settlements were incompletely enumerated in the 2011 NHS, which could have resulted in under or over-estimation of suicide rates. Most (29) of these reserves were in Québec and Ontario, with the rest in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. Among the ones in Québec and Ontario, some are proximal to Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) while others were rural or remote. The former includes Kahnawake, Kanesatake and Wendake. Mortality rates for small areas and small subgroups of the population may experience substantial year-to-year random fluctuations since death is a relatively rare event, particularly death by suicide. Finally, baseline socioeconomic and demographic factors used in the multivariate analysis may not reflect conditions at the time of death. This may have led to some biases in the findings.

Appendix

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Suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (2011-2016): Findings from the 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC)

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The article presents suicide rates for the 2011-2016 time period among self-identifying First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and non-Indigenous people in private dwellings in Canada. It also explores the influence of socioeconomic factors in the disparity in risk of suicide between First Nations people, Métis, Inuit and non-Indigenous people in Canada.

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Note: This content may be emotionally difficult. The Hope For Wellness help line is 1-855-242-3310 or via online chat, Additional supports are available through We Matter.

A new report on Indigenous suicide in Canada has generated the most comprehensive picture of the crisis to date, despite health authorities continuing not to collect data about the problem.

Released at the end of June, the Statistics Canada report titled " Suicide among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit (2011-2016)" found that, overall, Indigenous people in Canada die by suicide at a rate three times as high as non-Indigenous Canadians.

While comprehensive, the report acknowledges there are limitations to the findings that likely result in underestimations of the actual rates. The report's analysis includes a number of socio-economic factors, as well as comparative differences based on age, sex and location - on or off reserve.

The lead researcher of the report, Mohan Kumar, said he wants readers to remember that for each of the numbers in the report "there is a person behind them, and their deaths meant an incredible loss to family, friends, community and the society at large."

He also contextualizes the findings in light of existing research that shows how aspects of colonization contribute to the Indigenous suicide crisis. So that the high rates, he says, shouldn't be taken as indicative of personal, community or cultural failings.

Canada doesn't track suicides specifically by Indigenous identity, and the process that Kumar and co-researcher Michael Tjepkema used to overcome this is important to look at, as are the limitations inherent to these findings. The findings are estimations not full counts, as they're based on only a sample portion of the full population, and there are some population groups not surveyed.

But as Indigenous researchers Roland Chrisjohn and Shaunessy McKay wrote in Dying To Please You: Indigenous Suicide in Contemporary Canada, their 2017 book on the suicide crisis, discourse about the problem and solutions is often unhelpful and not evidence-based: "It sounds like drumbeats of a PR bandwagon, like Native people are being recruited to a mainstream viewpoint rather than being convinced with real data; with all parties repeating a mantra over and over again until they parrot it without any real understanding."

Thus, the Statistics Canada report's contributions in terms of new, fuller data analysis are important.

The report's central finding - that First Nations people die by suicide at three times the rate of non-Indigenous Canadians, Inuit at nine times the rate, and Métis at two times - illustrates a crisis but is not likely to surprise those familiar with previous statistics. For those unfamiliar, it puts Inuit among the people with the highest rates of suicide anywhere in the world.

The report examines each of the three groups separately, and is based on 2011 populations, when the census had 851,560 people self-identify as First Nations, 59,445 as Inuit and 451,795 as Métis .

The report estimates that there were 1,845 total deaths by suicide of the Indigenous population in Canada from May 10, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2016. This total consists of 1,180 First Nations people, 250 Inuit and 415 Métis.

Looking at it side by side with murder data can help contextualize the scale of the problem.

For the five years since StatCan started tracking homicides by Indigenous identity, there have been 710 recorded Indigenous victims of homicide. The number of estimated suicides from the StatCan report is approximately two and a half times larger, though it applies to a slightly longer period.

The public interest in addressing the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in Canada illustrates the scale of the energy that could be mustered in service of a similar reckoning with the suicide crisis.

A Statistics Canada report found that Indigenous people die by suicide at a rate three times as high as non-Indigenous Canadians. But the report acknowledges there are limitations to the findings that likely result in underestimations of actual rates

Younger Indigenous people suffer higher rates of suicide

When comparing overall populations of the identity groups, the report uses age-standardized suicide rates to account for the groups' different age distributions - the 2011 census shows median age was 26 for First Nations, 23 for Inuit, 31 for Métis and 41 for non-Indigenous. Kumar said the approach ensured that the findings were in the form of "the rate that would be expected if the age structures of the populations were the same."

The highest rates of Indigenous suicide are seen in youth and young adults, between the ages of 15 and 24, Kumar told National Observer. For First Nations people, the rate for these ages is 6.2 times higher than for non-Indigenous population in the same age range; for Inuit people, the rate is 23.9 times higher. (There wasn't enough data to generate accurate rates for Métis by age range.)

Not all communities are equally affected by the suicide crisis

For the First Nations population, the suicide rate was two times as high for those living on-reserve as those living off-reserve.

While a critique of much of the general discourse around Indigenous issues is that it is negative or problem-focused, this report did aim to "to look at it from the perspective of resiliency (instead) of having a deficiency-based estimate," according to Kumar.

In conversation, he highlighted that the report's findings show that of "close to 600 bands ... 60% of those FN bands had not experienced suicides (of any people in the sampled population), so they have a zero suicide rate."

For Inuit Nunangat, "11 out of 50 Inuit communites had a zero suicide rate."

These numbers do need qualifying, as these zero suicide rates don't necessarily mean there were no deaths by suicide from these bands and Inuit communities over the roughly five-and-a-half-year period covered by the report. This is due to the methodology.

How to count Indigenous suicides when the government doesn't track Indigenous suicides

This research is based on the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), which replaced the long-form census, and was based on voluntary responses. These responses accounted for a total of just over six million of the Canadian population, including what was then approximately a third (466,000) of self-identified Indigenous people in the country.

For the First Nations communities that participated in the NHS (over 90 per cent of the over 600 in Canada), all households on reserve received the survey while First Nations people living off-reserve were, like those in the general population, selected to receive the survey at random. All Métis living in households in surveyed areas, including the Métis Settlements of Alberta, received the survey while Métis living outside of survey areas were part of the random selection process to receive the survey.

For Inuit, every household in Inuit Nunangat (spanning parts of Northwest Territories, Quebec, and Labrador as well as all of Nunavut) received the survey, but individuals outside of the territory were selected for the NHS at random as part of the general population.

The NHS was used as a way to determine who among the suicide deaths were Indigenous, because the Canadian government doesn't track that in its records of health statistics.

"In the Canadian Vital Statistics Database (CVSD), there are no Indigenous identifiers, so you can't say if a death that occurred is of a First Nations person or a Métis or Inuit," Kumar explained.

"So the only way we can do that is we link the mortality records (from the CVSD) to the National Household Survey records, and in the NHS people self-identified as either a First Nations person, Inuit or Métis, or they didn't identify as Indigenous and so they would be considered non-Indigenous."

He noted a small percentage identify as belonging to more than one of the three Indigenous groups, about 0.8 per cent of the 2011 Indigenous population, though there is no separate analysis of their data in this report.

The report uses the deaths by suicide recorded in the CVSD starting from the day the NHS was collected, May 10, 2011, through the end of December 2016 - the period of 5.6 years.

Who - and what - was and wasn't counted

The NHS is a survey of private dwellings that omits people living in institutions (jails, medical facilities, etc.), collective dwellings (group homes, hostels, etc.), and many of those who are homeless.

These unmeasured groups may have higher rates of death by suicide compared with those who were surveyed; also, a higher proportion of the Indigenous population may be in those unmeasured groups than of the non-Indigenous population. It is for these reasons, and other less specific factors relating to the counting of deaths by suicide, that the report states "suicide rates presented (here) may underestimate the true rates."

The NHS also doesn't include data on gender or sexual identity, so there are no specific suicide rates in this report for two-spirit people or by sexual orientation or trans and non-binary gender identities - though these individuals are part of the overall statistics, except for those who are part of the unmeasured groups.

Kumar said the government is looking at having gender identity and sexual orientation identification included for the 2021 long-form census in consultation with Indigenous organizations.

"There are so many other factors that are behind the suicide rate we couldn't look into because we were restricted to what was collected in the NHS," Kumar said. The report itself identified some of these factors: "historical and intergenerational trauma, community distress, cultural continuity, family strength and mental wellness were not explored here."

Socio-economic factors

The report was able to do an analysis based on five socio-economic factors contained in the NHS: household income, level of education, labour force status, marital status, and, for First Nations, on- or off-reserve, while for Métis and Inuit, the size of the community in which they lived.

This itself, may be a unique contribution to the knowledge base of research on Indigenous suicide, especially with the large population range covered in this research.

But there were limitations to this too: only individuals 25 and older could be included to accurately analyze the roles of education, labour and marital status. This is a problem, because suicide rates for Indigenous youths and young adults are disproportionately high, and they are not reflected in this part of the report's analysis.

Adjusting for these socio-economic factors found that for the applicable age groups, 78 per cent of the difference in suicide rates disappears when the five factors are controlled for between First Nations and non-Indigenous; for Métis, 37 per cent of the difference disappears; and for Inuit, 40 per cent disappears (and closer to 50 per cent when household income was factored with the northern higher costs of living).

To illustrate what this adjustment means (in statistical terms, 'controlling for' these variables), is that First Nations median income in 2011 was $15,615 compared to $28,239 for non-Indigenous, but this part of the analysis compared the rates of suicide for First Nations and non-Indigenous who have similar incomes (and similarly adjusts for the other four factors), and found rates that were only 22% different. This also implies that for the non-Indigenous population in and of itself, suicide rates are not uniform, but vary corresponding with these socio-economic factors.

Kumar commented on the differing percentages of difference (i.e. the 78, 37, and 40 per cents, respectively) that disappeared for First Nations, Métis, or Inuit: "There are so many other things that are going on ... probably the better answer is that we don't quite understand why there is a difference."

It's also important to note the difference between causation and correlation: this analysis doesn't necessarily mean these factors are the cause of the different suicide rates, but that they are occurring together, which may be indicative of what is behind the problem.

Where to go from here

This analysis indicates that widespread societal imbalances between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations are a large aspect of the Indigenous suicide crisis. Thus, individual-focused suicide-prevention programs are not a full solution.

That idea is parallel to how the Calls For Justice from the MMIWG inquiry final report do not solely focus on directly stopping murderers or murders, nor say that the murders and disappearances are the genocide itself, but look more to changing the current conditions that result from the continuity of genocidal practices and that cause Indigenous victimization.

Three of the five socio-economic factors - the areas of education, employment and poverty - are included in parts of the MMIWG inquiry Calls For Justice ( pages 170-221), as well as in the " Master List of Report Recommendations" that the inquiry compiled from 100 previous reports they reviewed during their process.

The need for repair, to create equitable conditions and treatment, was also recognized recently when the Canadian government was ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to pay $40,000 each to all individual First Nations children and some parents/grandparents who were affected by the government's discriminatory practices in child welfare and service provision, including in the area of suicide-prevention services, as part of an ongoing tribunal case to end discriminatory policies.

The Statistics Canada report findings may help shape future research on Indigenous suicide, "There are lots of questions that probably come up (based on this report), which need to be addressed in future research," Kumar said. "I think it's up to other researchers to come up with questions or what sort of direction other research should go."

Kumar, who previously worked at the National Aboriginal Health Organization, also noted the importance of the involvement of national Indigenous organizations, including Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Métis National Council, and the National Association of Friendship Centres, and their contributions to the research process: it's important that Indigenous peoples do have a leading role in such knowledge production, and in developing approaches to these problems.

​​What people, communities, organizations, and governments do about the continuing suicide crises is crucial. It is a long-term problem that hasn't been adequately addressed, often only appearing in the general public consciousness when a specific community is forced to declare a state of emergency - as God's Lake First Nation, about 1,000 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, did at the end of August.

International Suicide Awareness Day was marked on Sept. 10, with the annual Celebrate Life event hosted by Inuit at Canada's Parliament Hill and other events across the country. The report's findings will add to these discussions, as well as those at the bi-annual World International Suicide Prevention Conference, being held next Aug. 25-27 in Winnipeg, an opportunity for all working on this problem.

But perhaps the most important part of the report may be its affirmation, with the best quantitative evidence currently available, that there continues to be a crisis and that the approaches used to address it have not been sufficient.

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Canada's Indigenous suicide crisis is worse than we thought

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A Statistics Canada report's central finding - that First Nations people die by suicide at three times the rate of non-Indigenous Canadians, Inuit at nine times the rate, and Métis at two times - illustrates a crisis but is not likely to surprise those familiar with previous statistics.

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Written by: Kasey McDonald, Sena Yenilmez, Kelsey Roote, Nudrat Karim, Shreya Shah, Lazaya Villenueve, and Jennifer Wu.

Introduction:

Water and sanitation is a basic human right, recognized as such by the United Nations- yet dozens of Indigenous communities across what is currently Canada do not have access to clean drinking water. In 2015, the Canadian government committed to end all of the long-term drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities by March 2021. However, there are still 51 long-term drinking water advisories in place with the government pushing back its deadline to end water advisories to 2026.

Why is Clean Water inaccessible to Indigenous communities?

Despite Canada possessing the world's third largest freshwater reserves, many Indigenous communities are not supplied with clean safe drinking water, a crisis that has been going on for decades.

In Canada, drinking water advisories are issued to warn people not to drink unsafe water. These are issued when there are problems with the water treatment system or the water has viruses, bacteria, parasites or chemical pollutants causing diseases and health problems.
Some reasons why these water advisories exist: Remote areas:
Governments only give a certain amount of money when it comes to this issue and some reserves may be more remote from a water source or a city, causing it to be more costly for the reserves affected and some reserves do not have the funds to support themselves and keep up continuous maintenance. Reserves that are remote from cities facing lack of clean water also have to worry about the access they have to water due to the fact that some reserves have no sources of water nearby, so they have to travel great lengths just to get unsafe water. Retrieving the materials needed for the water systems can also be a huge factor due the remoteness of a reserve, communities may lack certain types of equipment or transportation needed to ensure that everything runs smoothly and they have safe water systems in place.
Contamination:
Indigenous communities frequently have their waterways and lands polluted by effluence, typically from major corporations. For example, Grassy Narrows had a chemical plant dump around 10 tons of toxic mercury into a river upstream from the community resulting in more than half a decade of unsafe water and ecological damage.
Marginalization:
Indigenous peoples are often pushed to the side when it comes to making decisions, or when they have problems in their own communities that they need help with. When Indigenous peoples speak out about the lack of clean water they have they are often faced with broken promises. Canadian governments are aware that Indigenous reserves do not have clean drinking water but unfortunately they do not seem to do anything about it whatsoever. In addition, the pollution of waterways disproportionately affects Indigenous communities because of systemic and environmental racism, as well as institutions failing to uphold the duty to consult.
Maintenance of Systems:
Indigenous communities without clean water often lack the finances to maintain the water systems in the future. Governments provide only a certain amount of funds to Indigenous reserves for the issue of clean water and the maintenance of the systems, but quite often these funds aren't enough for the long term maintenance which causes barriers on the water supply in the long run.

How does this impact Indigenous communities?

These types of contaminants found in the drinking water are cancer causing. The exposure to this type of water on reserves can cause health issues ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to an increased risk of cancer.

The daily hardship of living under a water advisory for years means that some people become frustrated and drink it without boiling or otherwise treating it-risking exposure to contaminants.

Skin infections, psoriasis, eczema, or other skin problems

Financial burden

Conflict within band councils and First Nations communities due to lack of direction on who funds the drinking water and water systems - government or band?

⅕ First Nations household in Ontario relies on a private well for drinking water, and 57 percent of households rely on a household septic system. The cost to monitor quality and maintain the safety of these systems can be difficult to afford.

The cost to fix failed systems is often very high.

Restricted access to traditional food systems (fish).

Lowers quality of life.

For Indigenous peoples, many are environmental stewards. Contaminated water not only impacts Indigenous communities, but also has an adverse effect on the general environment surrounding these communities. This causes the overall quality of life to become lowered.

Cultural rights - Damaging the spiritual connection and importance of water.

We see water as medicine, not being able to drink your own water is damaging.

Ceremonies, customary fishing and hunting practices, and ways of teaching children and sharing traditional knowledge are impacted when water is contaminated.

Poor water and sanitation situation contributes to the severe housing shortage in reserves.

How can we help?

Volunteer with organizations to build infrastructure and provide safe drinking water for Indigenous communities

Raise awareness on the crisis through social media

Sign the following petitions (on Change.org):

Stop Call to Action: Support Neskantaga First Nation & End Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories

Stop the Underfunding of Water Plants on Indigenous Reserves

Clean water for Indigenous communities drinking from the Great Lakes Basin

Educate yourself and others on the severity of the issue

Educate yourself on the Indigenous communities near you that are under a water advisory and spread awareness in your community

Play a role in preventing the building of infrastructure that has the potential to further harm the water sources for Indigenous communities- stand with Indigenous peoples to fight off threats like pipeline development

Call government officialsand demand change

Hold companies and corporations that are prolonging the crises accountable (ex. Reed Pulp and Paper Mill who have caused the water contamination for Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations and Domtar who is not taking solid steps to resolving the crisis in those communities).

Recap:

Food, water, and air--these are the three most basic requisites to life. In a world in which there are robot dogs, talking toilets, spaceships on Mars exist, shouldn't humanity have moved past its fundamental issues? Not really, and the reason is just as repetitive as you might think: institutionalized racism.

Though water and sanitation are basic human rights, recognized as such by the United Nations, dozens of Indigenous communities across what is currently Canada do not have access to clean drinking water. In 2015, the Canadian government committed to end all of the long-term drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities by March 2021. However, there are still 51 long-term drinking water advisories in place with the government pushing back its deadline to end water advisories to 2026.

Despite Canada possessing the world's third largest freshwater reserves, many Indigenous communities are not supplied with clean, safe drinking water--a crisis that has been going on for decades. In Canada, these drinking water advisories are normally issued to warn people not to drink unsafe water, such as water treatment issues contaminated by viruses, bacteria, parasites or chemical pollutants.

Specifically, Indigenous communities are vulnerable to water contamination due to a few factors: marginalization, contamination, remote areas and maintenance of systems. Governments only allot limited funding to combat water contamination. Some water reserves are remote from a water source or city, resulting in more costly maintenance. Rural communities also have to travel great lengths just to receive contaminated water due to the lack of safe water nearby, especially since many communities lack certain types of equipment or transportation needed to ensure the safety of water systems.

Indigenous communities frequently have their waterways and lands polluted by effluence, typically from major corporations. For example, a Grassy Narrows chemical plant dumped around ten tons of toxic mercury into a river upstream from the community, resulting in more than half a decade of unsafe water and ecological damage.

On top of that, Indigenous peoples are often pushed to the side when it comes to making decisions or when they have problems in their own communities. When native peoples speak out about the lack of clean water, they are often faced with broken promises; the Canadian government is aware that Indigenous reserves do not have clean drinking water but has thus far failed to propose solutions or take accountability. The lack of federal support only worsens the current situation, as many Indigenous communities without clean water lack the finances to maintain the water systems in the future. The government only provides a certain amount of funds to Indigenous reserves for the issue of clean waters, but often these funds aren't enough for long term maintenance. Most importantly, the pollution of waterways disproportionately affects Indigenous communities because of systemic and environmental racism, as well as institutions failing to uphold the duty to consult.

Clean water matters because the types of contaminants found in the drinking water are often associated with cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, skin infections, and other health conditions. Lack of clean water restricts indigenous access to traditional food systems from historically significant bodies of water and also increases the financial burden on native peoples. One fifth of First Nations households in Ontario rely on a private well for drinking water, and 57 percent of households rely on a household septic system. Culturally, many Indigenous people see the water on native lands as medicinal, possessing a spiritually significant quality. When water is contaminated, ceremonies, customary fishing and hunting practices, and ways of teaching children traditional knowledge are impacted.

So how can we help Indigenous people? Firstly, we can send letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and tell him it's time to end drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities. Try to volunteer with organizations to build infrastructure and provide safe drinking water for Indigenous communities. Hold companies and corporations that are prolonging the crises accountable--such as Reed Pulp and Paper Mill--who have caused the water contamination for Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations. As always, try and raise awareness on the crisis through social media! Additionally, please donate to the following organizations if possible: Water First, True North Aid, and Water For People Canada. Below we've listed the following petitions to sign:

Stop Call to Action: Support Neskantaga First Nation & End Long-Term Drinking Water Advisories

Stop the Underfunding of Water Plants on Indigenous Reserves

Clean water for Indigenous communities drinking from the Great Lakes Basin

Research Sources:

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Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities - The Indigenous Foundation

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Written by: Kasey McDonald, Sena Yenilmez, Kelsey Roote, Nudrat Karim, Shreya Shah, Lazaya Villenueve, and Jennifer Wu. Introduction: Water and sanitation is a basic human right , recognized as such by the United Nations- yet dozens of Indigenous communities across what is currently Canada do

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For decades, hundreds of First Nation communities in Canada continue to suffer through modern crises regarding the abundant lack of clean drinking water available on reserves. The water that is most often used in these communities contains pollutants and radicals within the major rivers surrounding these reserves. Drinking this water has been known to cause flu-like symptoms upon ingestion and has been attributed to a vast history of infant-related deaths. A "do not drink water" notice is enacted when a potential risk is detected with water consumption that cannot be adequately addressed by boiling alone. These instances are not uncommon for the many Indigenous communities that continue to suffer from a lack of access to clean water. Most recently, a Calgary protest against the Coastal Gaslink pipeline highlighted such concerns about the 670-kilometre project being built through the Wet'suwet'en nation's treaty land - potentially impacting the quality of water sources present within the nation.

Jason Black Kettle, a first-year Communications and Media Studies major at the University of Calgary, is Blackfoot and a member of the Siksika Nation. In an interview with the Gauntlet, he states that "my dad would always say 'don't drink the water, it's no good' and as a kid, I never really understood what that meant - I was maybe 7 or 8 years old at that time, but even then I understood that when I was in Calgary, nobody had ever told me not to drink the water."

"I'm 23 now and looking back on that, I'm surprised at how long this issue has been going on. I mean, people say they care [and] they constantly cite the calls to action but there really is no action," Black Kettle adds.

Reserves, which are classified as under the jurisdiction of the federal government, can attribute this crisis to be the result of unregulated and defective water treatment systems and have seen little to no maintenance despite years of empty promises. The reality is that non-Indigenous Canadians are simply unaware and ignorant of the fact that Indigenous communities are continually denied the basic human right of sanitary drinking water, which can go on for prolonged periods of time - sometimes lasting years. Rarely has the topic of clean water on reserves been discussed by the media, nor has it been formally addressed in classroom discussions. Many students remain unaware of contemporary Indigenous issues because much of what is taught is projected to be issues of the past and further translates into a lack of initiative from political representatives to address such concerns.

"NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, responded to a question about the issue where someone was asking him if he would just 'give' money to First Nations peoples. He responded by asking if the government 'should' give money to Vancouver if their water systems had been compromised," said Black Kettle.

Singh's response is reflective of the performative activism that plagues the Canadian House of Commons and provides a broader commentary on the inaction of politicians when they are faced with the issues of marginalized Canadians. Not only would fixing this issue ensure the basic human rights of Indigenous peoples but it is also crucial to understand that fulfilling these promises serves as another step in reconciliation.

"This is Canada - we should care about the health and well-being of all its citizens, especially those who originally inhabited the land. I wouldn't want a white man to suffer without clean water as much as my people do, but that's a reality," Black Kettle said. "Part of me hopes they [white people] think the same way but I'm pretty sure most of them don't care. That's just my opinion. A lot of people say they care but it never seemed genuine to me."

What Canada has since failed to acknowledge is that many Indigenous cultures regard natural resources, such as land and water, with sacredness rather than just a resource for capital consumption. Unfortunately, the demand for change has fallen on deaf ears in regards to the government of Canada's response to the outcry for change. They have failed to impose any substantial aid measures and provide the necessary funding to maintain the water system.

This issue reinforces the prevalence of this crisis in our modern society as hundreds of advisories are enacted every year in Canada alone, with most of the reserves in the country being at risk of contaminated water supplies. Organizations, such as Water First, advocate for social awareness through education, training and collaboration with Indigenous communities where contributing some personal resources such as time and effort can prove to be valuable in fostering change.

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The lack of clean drinking water in Indigenous communities - The Gauntlet

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By Jenzelle Salazar, December 4, 2021- For decades, hundreds of First Nation communities in Canada continue to suffer through modern crises regarding the abundant lack of clean drinking water available on reserves. The water that is most often used in these communities contains pollutants and radicals within the major rivers surrounding these reserves.

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May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario - Indigenous Services Canada

The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve access to clean drinking water and lift all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as soon as possible.

Today, Indigenous Services Canada provided an update on progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of May 17, 2021, 106 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted. In other words, reliable access to safe drinking water has been restored for 5920 homes and 447 buildings in 77 communities since November 2015.

Much work remains and projects are underway to address the remaining 53 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 34 First Nations communities.

Our commitment to improving access to clean drinking water on reserves now and into the future goes beyond lifting long-term drinking water advisories. The Government of Canada recognizes that increased support for operations and maintenance (O&M) is essential to long-term sustainability of water infrastructure and preventing the reoccurrence of drinking water advisories in the future. Investments announced as part of Budget 2019 and the 2020 Fall Economic Statement mean that Indigenous Services Canada will be increasing the annual funding it provides First Nations to support the operations and maintenance of water and wastewater systems on a permanent basis by almost four times.

With these investments, one hundred percent of water and wastewater operations and maintenance costs will be covered based on the O&M funding formula, up from the 80 percent previously covered.

First Nations communities across the country have now received additional O&M funding for fiscal year 2020-2021. For this fiscal year, the majority of O&M funding has been allocated to First Nations enabling the planning of O&M activities. Additional funding amounts will be communicated as early as possible to put communities in the best position possible for future planning of operations and maintenance.

The Government continues to make significant investments in long-term water-related infrastructure projects to support reliable access to clean drinking water and prevent drinking water advisories from becoming long-term. Since November 2015, the Government has invested in 694 water and wastewater projects in 581 First Nations communities. Sixty new water and wastewater treatment plants and lagoons have been built and 39 more are underway.

Progress on eliminating all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves

Since our last progress update on March 31, 2021, First Nations, with support from Indigenous Services Canada, lifted 1 long-term drinking water advisory.

Wahta Mohawks as of March 31, 2021

Wahta Mohawks lifted a long-term drinking water advisory affecting the Wahta Administration/Community Centre water system. The advisory, in place since September 2013, was lifted on March 31, 2021, following the construction of a new well and installation of a point-of-entry treatment unit. The water meets all applicable requirements. Indigenous Services Canada continues to work with Wahta Mohawk on a community-wide solution for sustainable access to clean water.

Additionally, since April 1, 2021, three short-term drinking water advisories, lasting between two and 12 months, were lifted before becoming long-term.

"We know progress cannot come quickly enough and one long-term advisory is one too many. One hundred and six long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted to date, and projects are in place to address each of the remaining advisories. Our commitment to improving access to clean water on reserves does not come with a deadline, nor is it limited to our work to lift all long-term drinking water advisories. First Nations communities have now received the first installment of increased operations and maintenance funding. These improvements will provide First Nations a predictable funding stream, which will assist them in making strategic plans for their communities. We will not stop until every First Nation has clean water and we will continue to build the foundation for predictable, lasting solutions that support the unique needs of First Nations communities."

The Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Indigenous Services

Facebook: @GCIndigenousHealth

Twitter: @Min_IndServ

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Government of Canada progress update on improving access to clean water in First Nations communities

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May 17, 2021 - Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario - Indigenous Services Canada The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve access to clean drinking water and lift all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as soon as possible.

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'The bond is broken': Data shows Indigenous kids overrepresented in foster care

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New census data suggests Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system. Statistics Canada released data from the 2021 census showing Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care.

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Reducing the number of Indigenous children in care

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We are making progress on the 6 points of action, including engaging with Indigenous partners on the co-development of potential federal legislation on Indigenous child and family services. Bill C-92 - Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families - Indigenous children -…

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Statistics Canada's latest release of 2021 census data shows Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system.

Data collected shows Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care.

This number has gone up slightly compared to the 2016 census, when Indigenous children accounted for 52.2 per cent of children in care.

More than three per cent of Indigenous children living in private households in 2021 were in foster care, compared to the less than one per cent of non-Indigenous children.

Indigenous children accounted for 7.7 per cent of all children 14 years of age of younger in Canada.

The Liberal government instituted legislation in 2020 that sought to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous children and youth in foster care and to improve child and family services.

he census said there were 1.8 million Indigenous people, making up five per cent of the total population in Canada.

The Indigenous population grew by 9.4 per cent from 2016 to 2021, which is faster than the non-Indigenous population but not as rapid as it has been in years past.

The Indigenous population was also 8.2 years younger, on average, than the non-Indigenous population.

The average age was 33.6 years old, compared with 41.8 for a non-Indigenous person.

Statistics Canada also found that Indigenous people were much more likely to live in a low-income household.

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More than half of kids in foster care are Indigenous: Statistics Canada - National | Globalnews.ca

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Statistics Canada's latest release of 2021 census data shows Indigenous children continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system. Data collected shows Indigenous children accounted for 53.8 per cent of all children in foster care. This number has gone up slightly compared to the 2016 census, when Indigenous children accounted for 52.2 per cent of children in care.

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There's a major gap in employment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents in the Northwest Territories, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada.

Last month, 52.5 per cent of Indigenous residents had a job, compared to 81.3 per cent for non-Indigenous persons.

This 30 per cent gap has remained consistent over the past 10 years. In 2006, Statistics Canada reported that 56 per cent of the Indigenous workforce was employed, compared to 86 per cent of non-Indigenous residents.

Indigenous people make up half of the territory's overall population but are the majority in smaller communities. In 2014, employment in over half of those communities sat below 50 per cent - as low as 38 per cent in the case of Behchoko - according to a community survey from the N.W.T. Bureau of Statistics.

Statistics Canada gathered the numbers through a monthly survey by interviewing respondents, aged 15 and older, every three months over a two year period.

Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh M.L.A. Tom Beaulieu continues to raise the issue in the legislature.

"When you are a leader in this type of environment where there's no jobs, people hold you accountable," he says.

"I don't hear from the 44 per cent of the people of Fort Resolution that have good jobs. I hear from the other guys. They got no money."

Beaulieu says many residents have to rely on income support that may only last for two to three weeks. He calls it a "horrible situation."

The three-term member of the N.W.T. legislative assembly says there are not many options in smaller communities without government help. He has been pressuring the territorial government to invest in several key areas such as roads, to create jobs and support the traditional economy.

"There's an access road program which people really benefit from where they slash and they have a chance to run their equipment to build roads to their traditional hunting areas."

Beaulieu says the government should also set money aside to retrofit elders' homes, creating jobs and allowing elders to stay in their communities instead of being forced to move to larger centres.

"I'm not asking the government for money just to put us in the poor house. I'm asking the government to put money into communities to take us out of the poor house," he says.

"Imagine increasing [Indigenous] employment by 29 per cent. Well, it will clear up all of the social issues for sure."

Meanwhile the Northwest Territories government is working to assess the situation and plan future job training.

Last year the Department of Education, Culture and Employment released the first Northwest Territories Labour Market Forecast and Needs Assessment. It provides an in-depth look at the territory's labour market and labour force. It also projects what jobs will be in demand and the skills required to match them.

"We're going to be working with our aboriginal governments, working with industry and our communities to ensure that we're letting our residents, letting our youth know what jobs will be needed in the future," says Alfred Moses, Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment.

He says his department is currently developing a strategic plan with Aurora College to implement the training component in the Skills for Success action plan.

Moses says $1.2 million in funding was given to the small community employment support program last year. The money subsidizes the salaries of trainees and can be used to pay for training courses. Trainees must be unemployed, at least 18 years old, and live in one of the 26 eligible communities.

Moses says the program has been "very successful in our smallest communities where we see our highest aboriginal population."

Despite these efforts, Beaulieu says the territorial government is still moving too slowly and more needs to be done to see results.

"The higher the income, the healthier the population is. The higher the income, the less social issues there are."

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Stats show glaring gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment rates in the N.W.T. | CBC News

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There's a major gap in employment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents in the Northwest Territories, according to the latest numbers from Statistics Canada. Last month, 52.5 per cent of Indigenous residents had a job, compared to 81.3 per cent for non-Indigenous persons. This 30 per cent gap has remained consistent over the past 10 years.

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A new report from Statistics Canada shows unemployed Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting job losses from businesses being forced to close.

Figures from December 2019 to February 2020 show the Indigenous unemployment rate at 10 per cent while it was just 5.5 per cent for non-Indigenous people.

That jumped more than six percentage points for both groups between February and May.

Indigenous unemployment shot up to 16.6 per cent while non-Indigenous sat at 11.7 per cent.

When businesses started to reopen across the country, unemployment fell for non-Indigenous groups between May and August to 11.2 per cent but rose for Indigenous people to 16.8 per cent.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations ( FSIN) feels as if Ottawa ignored their concerns, especially a $9-billion funding request at the start of the pandemic only offering a fraction of that.

"When they were announcing COVID-19 relief funds for reopening the economy and things like that, we First Nations were at the bottom of the barrel," Chief Bobby Cameron told Global News, adding he thought the federal government failed First Nations.

Kelly Foley, a University of Saskatchewan economics professor, said disadvantaged people in the labour market disproportionately suffer in this kind of economic climate.

"I do believe they come from a lot of the same structural barriers that were preventing Indigenous people from finding employment even before the pandemic occurred," Foley said.

She added those hurdles include education levels, living in remote parts of the country and discrimination.

Cameron said all stakeholders, including the government, business community and Indigenous leaders, need to be involved in order to address the higher unemployment rates.

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Unemployed Indigenous workers disproportionately suffering from COVID-19 economy compared to non-Indigenous | Globalnews.ca

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A new report from Statistics Canada shows unemployed Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting job losses from businesses being forced to close. Figures from December 2019 to February 2020 show the Indigenous unemployment rate at 10 per cent while it was just 5.5 per cent for non-Indigenous people.

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Introduction

The First Nations population has grown quickly over the last decadeNote and is expected to continue to do so.Note This growth highlights a rising supply, and potential demand, for employment among First Nations men and women. And yet, despite gains in educational attainmentNote , First Nations people continue to be underrepresented in Canada's labour market.Note

Beyond the underrepresentation of First Nations people as a whole, First Nations women have been further marginalized in the labour market. Yet the release on Labour from the 2016 Census of Population showed that the employment rate for core working-ageNote First Nations women living off reserve, while lower than men's, did not change between 2006 and 2016. The employment rate for First Nations men, on the other hand, went down over the ten-year period.Note

This paper uses the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey to assess the employment characteristics of First Nations men and women. The 2017 APS represents the fifth cycle of the survey and focuses on participation in the economy, including factors effecting economic participation, labour mobility, entrepreneurship, post-secondary education, targeted skills training, sources of income and financial well-being.

Labour market experiences are important to economic well-being, not only of individuals but also of families and communities. The purpose of this paper is to examine employment of First Nations men and women aged 25 to 54 years living off reserve. The characteristics of employed First Nations people are outlined, including occupation, industry and full-time/part-time employment. A number of other outcomes, influenced by these characteristics, are further explored, such as job satisfaction, skills, health, presence of disability, and measures of economic well‑being such as food security.

First Nations men more likely to be employed than women

As the 2016 Census showed, for the total core working-age population in Canada, employment rates were lowest in the Atlantic provinces. However, the same pattern did not hold for First Nations people living off reserve. According to the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, employment rates were highest among First Nations people in the Atlantic provinces (71.8%). Employment was also higher in Ontario (68.4%), the Territories (68.3%) and British Columbia (68.0%). Employment was lowest for core working‑age First Nations people living in Saskatchewan (57.6%).

Data table for Chart 1
﻿

25 to 34 years

35 to 44 years

45 to 54 years

employment rate

Men

71.7

73.8

67.2

Women

63.0

First Nations women more likely to work part-time than men

Within the employed First Nations population, most people in the core working-age group worked full-time (86.4%).

First Nations women were more likely to work part-time than First Nations men. Among employed, core working-age First Nations women living off reserve, close to one in five (19.6%) were employed part-time. The figure for employed First Nations men was lower, at 6.7%.

Among those who were employed part-time, more than one third (36.9%) did so for what are called involuntary reasons; these may include business conditions or not being able to find work with 30 or more hours per week. This figure was roughly the same for men (34.2% Note E: Use with caution ) and women (37.7%).

Another 15.2% Note E: Use with caution of First Nations people who worked part-time did so because they were caring for a family member. However, almost all of this group was comprised by women (98.0%). Attending school was cited by 13.1% Note E: Use with caution of part-time workers as their main reason for working part-time.

Most employed First Nations people worked at a job that was permanent (85.0%). The proportion was virtually the same for employed women (85.0%) and men (85.1%).

Among non-permanent employees, close to half (47.4%) had a temporary, term or contract job, 30.4% had a seasonal job and 19.9% had a casual job. Women were more likely than men to work in a job that was considered casual (26.9% versus 11.5% Note E: Use with caution ), but there were no other significant differences between women and men.

The 2017 APS also asked respondents about their job satisfaction. Most employed First Nations people reported being satisfied with their job. The share who reported being either satisfied or very satisfied was roughly the same for First Nations men (89.6%) and women (90.7%).

Data table for Chart 2 ﻿

First Nations women with lower educational attainment less likely to be employed than men

The connection between education and employment-particularly high-paying employment-is well established.Note ,Note Furthermore, past research has found that within the Aboriginal population as a whole the rate of return is greater for higher levels of education than for the non-Aboriginal population.Note

Within the core working-age First Nations population living off reserve, 84.4% had attained at least a high school certificate. The share of First Nations men with less than high school (17.2%) was not significantly different from that of women (14.3%).

Just over one third (36.9%) of First Nations people with less than high school were employed. However, First Nations men with less than high school were more than twice as likely to be employed as First Nations women who had not completed high school (50.4% versus 23.9%). The gap in employment between First Nations men and women narrowed with higher levels of education (see Chart 3).

Data table for Chart 3
﻿

Highest level of schooling

Men

Women

employment rate

University certificate, diploma or degree at bachelor's level or above

92.6

91.3

University certificate or diploma below bachelor's level

65.0

81.0

College/CEGEP/other non-university certificate/diploma or degree

78.1

73.9

Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma

78.0

Some postsecondary

70.0

Secondary (high) school diploma or equivalent

67.7

57.0

No certificate, diploma or degree

50.4

Research shows that it is not only education that is linked with labour market success, but that the acquisition of skills-such as computer and numeracy skills-plays a vital role.Note The Aboriginal Peoples Survey asked respondents a number of questions on whether or not they felt that their skills limited their job opportunities.Note

More than one third (35.7%) of First Nations people reported that their computer skills were either very limiting or somewhat limiting to future job prospects. A quarter (25.8%) stated that their ability to work with numbers was very limiting or somewhat limiting; while 19.8% reported being either very or somewhat limited by their writing ability and 15.6% reported the same thing about their reading ability.

There were some differences in these limitations between men and women. First Nations women were more likely than men to report that their ability to work with numbers was a limitation (29.0% versus 21.7%). However, women were less likely than men to say the same thing about their ability to write (17.4% versus 22.7%) or read (13.0% versus 18.9%). Roughly the same proportion of First Nations men (35.2%) and women (36.1%) stated that their computer skills were either somewhat or very limiting.

Overqualification has been found among employed Aboriginal people, particularly those with less than university-level educational attainment.Note There are multiple ways to measure whether or not an employee is qualified for their job; the 2017 APS asked respondents to self-assess whether or not they were overqualified, qualified or underqualified. Overall, 29.4% of employed First Nations people aged 25 to 54 years felt that they were overqualified for their current job. Another 5.9% felt that they were working in a job for which they were underqualified. There were no significant differences between men and women regarding either being overqualified or underqualified.

Industry profile differs between men and women

However, these trends depended upon the place where First Nations men resided. While 25.1% Note E: Use with caution of First Nations men worked in construction in Saskatchewan and 23.8% Note E: Use with caution did so in Alberta, this industry was less common for First Nations men in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Public administration, on the other hand, was most common for First Nations men in the territories (30.2%), the Atlantic provinces (19.6% Note E: Use with caution ) and Quebec (18.3% Note E: Use with caution ); it was least common in Alberta and British Columbia.

The kinds of industries employing core working-age First Nations women was different than that of men. Three industries-health care and social assistance, retail trade and educational services-employed 44.6% of First Nations women. Among employed First Nations women, 23.7% worked in health care and social assistance, 10.7% worked in retail trade and 10.2% worked in educational services.

Among First Nations women, the top 5 most common industries employ a larger share of those working compared with men (62.7% versus 50.4%). This suggests that employed First Nations men are working in a wider range of industries compared with women.

Provincially, it was most common for employed First Nations women to work in the health care and social assistance industry in Manitoba; here, more than two in five (41.6%) employed, First Nations women worked in this industry. In other regions, such as British Columbia (17.9% Note E: Use with caution ) and the territories (17.3%), it was less common for First Nations women to work in health care and social assistance. First Nations women were most likely to work in retail trade in the Atlantic provinces (20.7% Note E: Use with caution ); and least likely to work in this industry in Quebec and the territories.

Many First Nations men employed in occupations related to trades, women in sales and services

Education plays an important role in the types of jobs available to an individual. Among First Nations men, trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations was either the largest or second largest occupational group for most First Nations men, no matter their level of education and was highest among those with an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma (65.1%). The lone exception was among First Nations men who had a university certificate, diploma or degree at the bachelor's level or above; among this group, the most common occupations were in education, law and social, community and government services (34.6%) and business, finance, and administration occupations (15.3% Note E: Use with caution ).

Like men, more than half (52.6%) of employed First Nations women in the 25 to 54 age group worked in one of two occupational groups. Sales and service occupations made up 30.6% of all occupations of First Nations women; while business, finance, and administration occupations made up 22.1%.

The most common occupational group was business, finance, and administration for First Nations women with a certificate or diploma from college, CEGEP or another non-university institution (30.3%). Among those who had attained a certificate, diploma or degree from a university, the largest occupational group was in education, law and social, community and government services.

Basic needs and food security

Along with considering the differing employment outcomes of First Nations men and women, it is important to consider the other outcomes of First Nations people that are affected by employment. For example, two different people may both be employed, but the employment of the first may be sufficient to cover basic household needs while the employment of the second is not.

Overall, 58.6% of off-reserve First Nations people between the ages of 25 and 54 years lived in a household that was defined as food secure. One quarter (26.1%) of the same group lived with moderate food insecurity and the remaining 15.3% were considered to live in a household with severe food insecurity.

Those who were employed were significantly more likely to live in a food secure household (68.8%) compared with those who were unemployed (35.0%) or out of the labour force (39.4%). Chart 8 shows the share of those who were in food secure households by labour force status, as well as the share whose household had enough money to meet basic needs and those that could cover an unexpected expense.

Data table for Chart 8
﻿

Labour force status

Food secure

Household income enough or more than enough to meet household needs

Able to cover unexpected expense of $500

percent

Employed

68.8

80.2

67.9

Unemployed

Not in the labour force

Despite the positive association between employment and food security, the benefit was not equally felt for women and men. First Nations women who were employed were less likely to live in a food secure household than were men (64.1% versus 74.0%).

When asked if their household income was sufficient to meet household needs, 75.8% of employed First Nations women reported that their income was enough or more than enough. This figure was significantly lower than that of First Nations men (85.0%).

The divide between men and women was also seen when respondents were asked if their household could cover an unexpected expense of $500. Close to two thirds of First Nations men (64.0%) stated that they would be able to cover such an expense; this figure was significantly lower for First Nations women (48.7%). This difference held true even for those who were employed, as 74.7% of employed men reported that they would be able to cover an expense of $500 compared with 62.0% of employed First Nations women.

Along with differences in earnings, industry and occupation, these outcomes may be related to the extra burden of care that women tend to carryNote or the increased likelihood of women being single parents.Note Past research has also found that women tend to experience greater declines in economic well-being following a divorce or dissolution of a common-law relationship, when compared with men.Note

Among various household types within the employed First Nations population, there were significant differences between men and women in the share of those who lived in a food secure household, the share whose household income was enough to meet basic needs and the share who would be able to cover an unexpected expense of $500.

Considering those living in a couple, either with children or without, there was little difference between First Nations men and women for any of the outcomes. However, within lone-parent households, employed First Nations women were less likely to be food secure than men (45.6% versus 63.0%). They were also less likely to report that their household income was enough or more than enough to meet household needs (59.6% versus 78.9%); and were less likely to be able to cover an unexpected expense of $500 (38.8% versus 63.8%).
﻿

MenTable 1 Note †

Women

percent

Food secure household

Other family household

74.9

49.4 Note E: Use with caution

Household income enough or more than enough to meet household needs

Other family household

87.5

54.8 Note E: Use with caution Note *

Able to cover unexpected expense of $500

Other family household

85.2

41.0 Note E: Use with caution Note *

Health and First Nations people with disabilities

In past research on First Nations people, employment has often been studied as a determinant of health.Note ,Note However, the relationship can also work in the opposite direction, as a person in poor health may be less likely to enter into the labour market.Note

The self-reported health question on the Aboriginal Peoples Survey asked respondents to rate their general well-being. Among those in the core working-age group living off reserve, First Nations women were less likely than First Nations men to report excellent or very good health (42.7% versus 50.0%). Furthermore, women were less likely to report excellent or very good mental health (46.6% versus 58.6%).

Employment rates of First Nations women were also correlated with health outcomes to a greater degree than those of men. Meaning that women who were less likely to rate their health as excellent or very good, were also less likely to be employed than First Nations men with the same level of self-reported health.

First Nations women with good, fair or poor self-rated health were less likely to be employed (54.5%) than First Nations men in the same category (60.9%). The divide was even greater when considering those with good, fair or poor self-rated mental health: the employment rate of First Nations women in this group was nearly ten percentage points lower than that of men (54.8% versus 63.7%).

For the first time in 2017, the Aboriginal Peoples Survey used the Disability Screening Questions (DSQ) to identify persons with disabilities. These questions have been used on a number of surveys to allow comparisons between persons with and without disabilities. Using this measure, close to one third (32.7%) of off-reserve First Nations people aged 25 to 54 years had a disability. Women were more likely to have a disability than men (39.3% versus 24.5%).

Among those who were employed, First Nations persons with disabilities were more likely to work part-time than those without a disability (27.1% versus 9.4%). This pattern held true for both men (20.2% Note E: Use with caution versus 4.3% Note E: Use with caution ) and women (30.2% versus 14.9%).

Conclusion

Within the core working-age off-reserve First Nations population, there are notable differences in the employment characteristics of women and men based on educational attainment, with impacts on their income and food security as well as health status.

Finally, this research suggests not only that First Nations women were less likely to be employed but that the benefits of employment were not equally felt among women and men. Employed First Nations women were less likely to live in food secure households and less likely to report being able to cover common or unexpected expenses.

Negative health was also tied to employment for First Nations women, who were less likely to report excellent or very good health as well as excellent or very good mental health than their male counterparts.

Future research on the labour force outcomes of First Nations men and women could examine the relationship between earnings and employment. Multivariate analysis could also further illuminate other factors that are related to employment for both First Nations men and women.

Data sources and methods

Data sources

The data used are from the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS). The 2017 APS is a voluntary, national survey of First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit aged 15 or older. The objectives of the APS are to identify the needs of these Aboriginal groups and to inform policy and programs. The APS aims to provide current and relevant data for a variety of stakeholders, including Aboriginal organizations, communities, service providers, researchers, governments, and the general public.

The APS is a post-censal survey, designed to follow and complement the Census of Population. The 2017 APS represents the fifth cycle of the survey and follows the thematic approach that was first introduced in the 2012 APS. The focus for the 2017 APS is on participation in the Canadian economy, transferable skills, practical training, use of information technology, Aboriginal language attainment, etc. It collected data on part-time employment, self-employment, business assistance, job satisfaction, job seeking, and non-participation in the labour force and job skills. It also collected unique and detailed information on education, health, languages, society and community, etc.

The 2017 APS was developed by Statistics Canada with funding provided by Indigenous Services Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Health Canada, and Employment and Social Development Canada.

While this paper analyzes the employment rates of the off-reserve First Nations population from the 2017 APS, official employment, unemployment and participation rates are produced via the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

The target population of the 2017 APS was composed of the Aboriginal identity population of Canada, 15 years of age or older as of January 15, 2017, living in private dwellings. It excluded people living on Indian reserves and settlements and in certain First Nations communities in Yukon and the Northwest Territories (NWT). The sample for the survey was derived from a sampling frame of individuals who answered "Yes" to one of the three Census questions defining the identity population (questions 18, 20 and 21) or those who reported Aboriginal ancestry to question 17 on the Census. Although not part of the 2017 APS target population, some individuals with Aboriginal ancestry who did not report Aboriginal identity were still sampled, since past survey experience indicates that nearly one-third of these individuals will report an Aboriginal identity on the APS. Therefore, unlike the target population, the sampled population (or survey population) was composed of both the identity population and the Aboriginal ancestry-only population. Additional details of the survey are available on the Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) and in the Concepts and Methods Guide.

The 2017 APS was conducted from January through August, 2017. The overall response rate was 76%.

Methods

The population of study for this analysis were people who identified as First Nations living off reserve, aged 25 to 54 years. It was possible to report both single and multiple responses to the Aboriginal identity question on the APS ( e.g. both First Nations and Métis). The data presented here represent a combination of the single and multiple responses for First Nations people.

Prevalence estimates presented in this article are based on descriptive analysis conducted using SAS-callable SUDAAN and STATA. Weighted estimates were calculated using methods that took into account the survey design of the APS. Missing values including "don't know," "not stated" and "refusal" were excluded from the denominator when calculating percentages. Variance was estimated using 1,000 sets of bootstrap weights and a Fay adjustment factor of 16. Variance around each estimate is depicted using 95% confidence intervals. Statistically significant differences between two estimates were identified using hypothesis testing.

To ensure confidentiality of respondents, estimates based on small cell counts (10 or less) were suppressed. Further, estimates with unacceptable precision (coefficient of variation greater than 33.3%) were also suppressed. Estimates with marginal precision (coefficient of variation between 16.6% and 33.3%) are presented with an " E" and should be used with caution.

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Statistics Canada. 2013. "Education and occupation of high-income Canadians." NHS in Brief. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-014-X2011003. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Statistics Canada. 2017. "Education in Canada: Key results from the 2016 Census." The Daily. November 29, 2017. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Statistics Canada. 2017. "Labour in Canada: Key results from the 2016 Census." The Daily. November 29, 2017. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Turcotte, M. 2014. "Persons with Disabilities and Employment." Insights on Canadian Society. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-006-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Zhao, J., S.J. Ferguson, H. Dryburgh, C. Rodriguez, and L. Gibson. 2017. "Does Education Pay? A Comparison of Earnings by Level of Education in Canada and Its Provinces and Territories. Census of Population, 2016." Census in Brief. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-200-X2016024. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Notes

E use with caution

Note

This growth is generally attributed to two factors: first, increased life expectancy and relatively high fertility rates; and second, changes in self-reported identification. For more information, see Caron-Malenfant, É., Coulombe, S., Guimond, E., Grondin, C. and A. Lebel. 2014. "Ethnic Mobility of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada Between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses." Population, English edition, 69(1), 29-54.

Note

Morency, J.-D., É. Caron-Malenfant, S. Coulombe, and S. Langlois. 2015. Projections of the Aboriginal Population and Households in Canada, 2011 to 2036. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 91-552-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Note

Note

Note

Note

Note

While this paper analyzes the employment rates of the off-reserve First Nations population from the 2017 APS, official employment, unemployment and participation rates are produced via the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

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Note

Statistics Canada. 2013. "Education and occupation of high-income Canadians." NHS in Brief. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-014-X2011003. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

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Note

Ciceri, C. and K. Scott. 2006. " The Determinants of Employment among Aboriginal Peoples." Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCI). 132.

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Hanushek, E.A., G. Schwerdt, S. Wiederhold and L. Woessmann. 2013. Returns to Skills around the World: Evidence from PIAAC. NBER Working Paper No. 197762. National Bureau of Economic Research. Cambridge, MA.

Note

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Note

Industry is based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which is used by business and government to classify business establishments according to type of economic activity (process of production).

Note

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is a four-tiered hierarchical structure of occupational groups with successive levels of disaggregation. The broadest level includes 10 broad occupational categories (NOC1).

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Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. 1996. Rome Declaration on World Food Security.

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Employment of First Nations men and women living off reserve

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This paper uses the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey to assess the employment characteristics of First Nations men and women, including occupation, industry and full-time/part-time employment. A number of other outcomes, influenced by these characteristics, are further explored, such as job satisfaction, skills, health, presence of disability, and measures of economic well-being such as food security.

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Highlights

In 2021, over one in six Indigenous people (17.1%) lived in crowded housing that was considered not suitable for the number of people who lived there.

The share of Indigenous people living in crowded housing declined overall among all three groups (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) from 2016 to 2021, including among First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living on reserve. However, for Inuit living in Nunavut, the Inuvialuit region and outside Inuit Nunangat, the share living in crowded housing increased from 2016 to 2021.

Multigenerational households were the most common living arrangement among First Nations people living in crowded housing (34.5%), followed by couples living with children (21.7%). Among Métis and Inuit living in crowded housing, the most common living arrangement was couples living with children.

Indigenous people were almost twice as likely to live in crowded housing in 2021, compared with the non-Indigenous population (17.1% versus 9.4%). However, the gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population narrowed by 1.7 percentage points from 2016 to 2021.

In 2021, 16.4% of Indigenous people lived in a dwelling that was in need of major repairs.

First Nations people and Métis were less likely to be living in a dwelling in need of major repairs in 2021, compared with five years earlier. For Inuit overall, the share living in a dwelling in need of major repairs in 2021 was similar to 2016 levels, while Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat (+1.2 percentage points) were more likely to live in housing needing major repairs.

Indigenous people were almost three times more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs (16.4%) in 2021 than the non-Indigenous population (5.7%). Nevertheless, the gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population narrowed by 2.3 percentage points from 2016 to 2021.

Introduction

Adequate and suitable housing that provides residents with a safe environment to live and work in is essential for mental and physical well-being and a higher quality of life. Living in poor housing conditions, such as houses with overcrowding, mould or structural defects, is associated with the spread of infectious and respiratory diseases, chronic illness, injuries, and poorer mental health. ,

In 2019, the National Housing Strategy Act declared that "the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law" and recognized that having an affordable and safe place to live gives individuals and families the environment they need to succeed, grow and live in dignity. However, many Indigenous people in Canada live in inadequate housing, particularly among those living in remote or northern communities.

Although the 2016 Census of Population revealed that housing conditions among Indigenous people had improved overall, they remained much more likely to be living in inadequate housing than the non-Indigenous population.

This article uses new data from the 2021 Census of Population to report on housing conditions among Indigenous people in Canada. In addition, it will examine how housing conditions have changed among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit since 2016.

Over one in six Indigenous people live in crowded housing

Over one in six Indigenous people (17.1%, or 309,345 people) lived in housing that was considered not suitable for the number of people who lived there, according to the National Occupancy Standard. Housing suitability is a measure of crowding, which refers to whether a dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household.

Crowded housing is categorized into dwellings that have a shortfall of one, two, or three or more bedrooms. Just over 1 in 10 Indigenous people (10.7%) lived in housing that had a one-bedroom shortfall, 3.7% lived in housing with a two-bedroom shortfall, and 2.8% lived in housing with a shortfall of three or more bedrooms.

Nevertheless, the share of Indigenous people living in crowded housing declined by 0.9 percentage points from 2016 to 2021.

While the share of Indigenous people living in crowded housing remained much higher than the non-Indigenous population (17.1% versus 9.4%), the gap between the two groups narrowed from 9.5 percentage points in 2016 to 7.8 percentage points in 2021.

Fewer Indigenous people live in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with five years earlier

Approximately one in six Indigenous people (16.4%, or 295,745 people) lived in a dwelling that was in need of major repairs in 2021, down 2.7 percentage points from 2016.

Dwellings in need of major repairs include those that require major repairs such as defective plumbing or electrical wiring and those that require structural repairs to walls, floors or ceilings.

Although Indigenous people were almost three times more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs (16.4%) than the non-Indigenous population (5.7%) in 2021, the gap narrowed by 2.3 percentage points from 2016.

First Nations people living on reserve are more likely to live in crowded housing

Over one in five First Nations people (21.4%, or 224,280 people) lived in crowded housing in 2021, with 12.9% living in housing with a one-bedroom shortfall, 4.8% living in housing with a two-bedroom shortfall and 3.8% living in housing with a shortfall of three or more bedrooms. Overall, the share of First Nations people living in crowded housing declined by 1.2 percentage points from 2016.

First Nations people who had Registered or Treaty Indian status under the Indian Act were over twice as likely to live in crowded housing, compared with First Nations people without Registered or Treaty Indian status (25.4% versus 11.2%).

First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living on reserve were almost twice as likely to live in crowded housing, compared with those who lived off reserve (35.7% versus 18.4%). However, the share of First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living in a crowded dwelling on a reserve fell at a faster pace from 2016 to 2021, compared with that of their counterparts living off reserve (-0.6 percentage points versus -0.2 percentage points).

Just over one-third (34.5%) of First Nations people in crowded housing were living in a multigenerational household, with at least one person living with a child and a grandchild. This share was higher (44.9%) among First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living on reserve.

In multigenerational households, grandparents play an important role in raising children and passing on traditional values, knowledge and teachings to younger generations. In addition, living in a multigenerational household may be a family's solution to housing issues in their community, such as affordability or housing shortages.

Other common living arrangements among First Nations people living in crowded housing included couples living with children (21.7%) and one-parent families (18.2%).

Nationally, First Nations people were most likely to live in crowded housing in Manitoba (35.7%) and Saskatchewan (34.3%) and least likely to do so in Atlantic Canada.

Fewer First Nations people living in a dwelling in need of major repairs

In 2021, almost one in five First Nations people (19.7%, or 206,845 people) were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, down 3.9 percentage points from 2016.

First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status were more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with those without Registered or Treaty Indian status (22.8% versus 12.0%).

Over one-third of First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living on reserve lived in a dwelling in need of major repairs (37.4%), almost three times the rate of their counterparts living off reserve (12.7%). Nevertheless, the share of First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living in a dwelling in need of major repairs on a reserve fell at a faster pace from 2016 to 2021 than the share of those living off reserve (-6.5 percentage points versus -1.4 percentage points).

Nationally, the share of First Nations people living in dwellings in need of major repairs was highest in the Northwest Territories (30.0%) and Manitoba (28.7%) and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (8.6%).

Approximately 1 in 12 Métis live in crowded housing

Approximately 1 in 12 Métis (7.9%, or 49,565 people) were living in crowded housing in 2021, down 0.6 percentage points from 2016.

In 2021, 6.2% of Métis were living in housing with a one-bedroom shortfall, 1.3% were living in housing with a two-bedroom shortfall and 0.5% were living in housing with a shortfall of three or more bedrooms.

Among Métis living in crowded housing in 2021, one-quarter were living in a household composed of a couple with children (25.6%). Other common living arrangements among Métis living in crowded housing included one-parent families (23.3%) and multigenerational households (22.0%).

Nationally, the share of Métis living in crowded housing was higher in Yukon (10.9%), the Northwest Territories (10.7%) and Manitoba (10.0%), and lower in Newfoundland and Labrador (4.4%) and Nova Scotia (4.9%).

In 2021, 335,350 Métis were living in a census metropolitan area (CMA) of 100,000 or more people. Métis living in a CMA were more likely to live in crowded housing, compared with their counterparts living outside a large city (8.3% versus 7.5%). Among those living in large cities, the highest share of Métis living in crowded housing was seen in Kingston (14.8%), Toronto (11.3%) and Winnipeg (11.1%).

Métis less likely to be living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with five years earlier

In 2021, approximately 1 in 10 Métis (10.0%, or 62,640 people) were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, down 1.2 percentage points from 2016.

The share of Métis living in a dwelling in need of major repairs was lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (8.2%), British Columbia (9.0%), and Alberta (9.0%), and highest in the Northwest Territories (19.4%), New Brunswick (13.7%) and Yukon (13.2%).

Métis living outside a large city were more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with their counterparts living in a CMA (11.5% versus 8.7%). However, among Métis residing in CMAs, the share living in a dwelling in need of major repairs was higher for those in Trois-Rivières, Quebec (15.9%); Saint John, New Brunswick (14.6%); and Moncton, New Brunswick (12.5%).

Just over half of Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat-specifically Nunavut-live in crowded housing

Just over two in five Inuit (40.1%, or 28,260 people) lived in crowded housing in 2021, with 20.7% living in housing with a one-bedroom shortfall, 10.0% with a two-bedroom shortfall and 9.4% with a shortfall of three or more bedrooms.

This large share of Inuit living in crowed housing was mainly driven by those living in Inuit Nunangat, who were four times more likely to live in crowded housing than Inuit living outside Inuit Nunangat (52.9% versus 11.4%). Inuit Nunangat is the traditional homeland of Inuit, which includes Nunatsiavut (Labrador), Nunavik (northern Quebec), Nunavut and the Inuvialuit region (Northwest Territories).

Among Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat, those living in Nunavut (60.0%) were the most likely to live in crowded housing, while those in Nunatsiavut (17.7%) were the least likely to do so.

Within Inuit Nunangat, the lack of access to appropriate and affordable housing is well documented. Inuit living in these regions face a number of challenges, including high construction, operation and maintenance costs. In addition, due to barriers such as higher costs of living, fewer employment opportunities, lower income levels and the lack of housing markets for resale, many Inuit rely on public or subsidized housing.

Among Inuit living in crowded housing in 2021, the living arrangements were mostly made up of couples living with children (36.3%) and multigenerational households (35.4%). Over one-third of Inuit living in crowded housing in Inuit Nunangat were couples living with children (37.2%) or multigenerational households (36.7%). Outside Inuit Nunangat, approximately one-quarter of Inuit living in crowded housing were couples living with children (27.6%) or multigenerational households (22.9%).

Overall, the share of Inuit living in crowded housing edged down 0.6 percentage points from 2016 to 2021. There were fewer Inuit living in crowded dwellings in Nunatsiavut (-2.5 percentage points) and Nunavik (-5.1 percentage points) compared with five years earlier, and more Inuit living in crowded housing in Nunavut (+3.6 percentage points), the Inuvialuit region (+1.9 percentage points) and outside Inuit Nunangat (+0.4 percentage points).

Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat are more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs

Over one-quarter of Inuit (26.2%, or 18,460 people) were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs in 2021. However, Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat were almost three times more likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with their counterparts living outside Inuit Nunangat (32.7% versus 11.5%).

Within Inuit Nunangat, approximately one-third of Inuit in Nunavut (35.5%) and the Inuvialuit region (33.0%) were living in a dwelling in need of major repairs, compared with one-quarter of Inuit living in Nunatsiavut (28.2%) and Nunavik (26.5%).

Overall, Inuit were as likely to be living in dwellings in need of major repairs in 2021 as they were in 2016. However, Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat were more likely to be living in a dwelling in need of major repairs (+1.2 percentage points) compared with five years earlier, while Inuit living outside Inuit Nunangat (-0.6 percentage points) were slightly less likely to be living in a dwelling requiring major repairs.

Looking ahead

In the coming months, releases from the Census of Population will provide more comprehensive data for Indigenous people living in Canada. Upcoming data releases for the 2021 Census include education and labour force characteristics, which will provide a more comprehensive socioeconomic portrait of Indigenous populations in Canada.

Additional information

Additional analysis on First Nations people, Métis and Inuit can be found in the Daily article; in the Census in Brief article on Métis in Canada, Catalogue no. 98-200-X; and in the article on shelter costs on reserve.

Additional information on First Nations people, Métis and Inuit can be found in the data tables; the Census Profile, Catalogue no. 98-316-X; and the Focus on Geography Series, Catalogue no. 98-404-X.

For details on the concepts, definitions and variables used in the 2021 Census of Population, please consult the Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021, Catalogue no. 98-301-X.

In addition to response rates and other data quality information, the Guide to the Census of Population, Catalogue no. 98-304-X, provides an overview of the various phases of the census, including content determination, sampling design, collection, data processing, data quality assessment, confidentiality guidelines and dissemination.

Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by Alexandria Melvin and Thomas Anderson of Statistics Canada's Centre for Indigenous Statistics and Partnerships, with the assistance of other staff members in that centre, and the collaboration of staff members of the Census Subject Matter Secretariat, Census Operations Division, Communications Branch, and Data Access and Dissemination Branch.

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Housing conditions among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada from the 2021 Census

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This Census in Brief article reports on housing conditions among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in 2021. It describes the share of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit living in crowded dwellings and dwellings in need of major repair, and reports variation by provinces, territories, and the regions of Inuit Nunangat.

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Angela Klassen Janeczko calls out to a young woman sitting behind a building in downtown Winnipeg to see if she needs any water or food.

They know each other by name and Janeczko has seen the young Indigenous woman struggle with housing and addiction for more than year.

Janeczko works with the Bear Clan Patrol, a neighbourhood watch group in Winnipeg that walks through streets and alleys looking to help those most in need. She says they have seen rooming houses and apartment buildings become derelict. At the same time, rent has also gone up and nearby houses are selling for record amounts.

It is disproportionately affecting Indigenous people in the neighbourhood, she says, and many are ending up in tents tucked behind buildings, along the riverbank or in small community parks. The COVID-19 pandemic just exacerbated the problem, she adds.

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"Treat people with humanity and respect," Janeczko says, as she hands out some food to another person nearby.

Statistics Canada's latest release of 2021 census data shows the Indigenous population is still growing, although the pace has slowed, and is much younger than the rest of Canada. However, the data says, they are also struggling with housing in a system that's already stretched thin.

The census says there are 1.8 million Indigenous people in Canada, accounting for five per cent of the total population. The Indigenous population grew by 9.4 per cent from 2016 to 2021, almost twice the pace of the non-Indigenous population.

While the number of Indigenous people in insufficient housing decreased slightly, it is still much higher than the non-Indigenous population.

Almost one in six Indigenous people lived in a home in need of major repairs in 2021, a rate almost three times higher than for the non-Indigenous population, and more than 17 per cent of Indigenous people lived in crowded housing.

Statistics Canada says because of difficulties in collecting census data on First Nations and other Indigenous communities, some caution should be exercised in comparing census years. The agency says it made adjustments to track overall trends.

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Wednesday's census release comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government set housing for Indigenous Peoples as a priority. It was also a part of the agreement between the minority Liberal government and the New Democrats.

The 2022 federal budget committed $4.3 billion over seven years to help improve Indigenous housing, a number the Assembly of First Nations says falls far short of what is needed. The national advocacy organization had asked to see $44 billion to deal with overcrowding and homes in dire need of repair on reserves.

Michael Yellow Bird, dean of the University of Manitoba's social work faculty, says it is a byproduct of colonization. Forced relocation, a loss of sovereignty and decades of underfunding have contributed to poverty and poor housing for Indigenous people. The trauma and displacement caused by residential schools is also a factor, he adds.

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Housing on-reserve also doesn't work the same as elsewhere, Bird explains, and it can be a complex administrative process for First Nations to work with Ottawa to tackle those long-standing issues.

The effect of unstable and overcrowded housing on- and off-reserve can be the same, Bird says. Poor housing is connected to major health issues, mental health problems, poor education outcomes and higher rates of suicide, he says.

"These things are all so connected," Bird says. "It's the demography of these things that we know, that these critical factors are causing a number of different kinds of disorders in communities."

The Liberals have promised to develop an urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy and have budgeted $300 million over five years so that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation can work with Indigenous communities to build the plan.

Affordability has become an issue in many real estate markets in Canada, but Indigenous people are more likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts to be living in a low-income situation.

The census found 18.8 per cent of Indigenous people lived in a low-income household. The rate was highest among First Nations people, particularly those who lived on a reserve.

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"Nearly one-quarter of Indigenous children 14 years of age and younger lived in a low-income household in 2021, which is over double the rate among non-Indigenous children," said Annie Turner, with the centre for Indigenous statistics and partnerships at Statistics Canada.

Research shows that Indigenous people are also disproportionately homeless.

Janeczko walks through an alley with a handful of volunteers as the call of "sharp" echoes each time they find a needle. The group picked up more than 325 needles in a couple of hours during the recent patrol. Not every person without a home has addictions, but it can be a way those community members cope, Janeczko says.

Winnipeg has the largest Indigenous population of any major city in Canada and it continues to grow. Janeczko says every level of government has committed to studying the housing problem, but the people most affected need help now.

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A sign on a nearby garage reads that a person has permission to live there. The young man inside thanks the Bear Clan volunteers for food and water as they check on him. Inside the garage is a makeshift living area with a couch covered in blankets, a table and a handful of personal items.

Janeczko explains the property where the garage stands used to be a rooming house that had about 20 occupants. When the owner died it was abandoned, she says.

The housing needs in the neighbourhood are immense, so the loss of an affordable rental space left many people at risk of being on the street, she says.

"The housing need is here," she says.

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Indigenous people more likely to have housing issues as population grows: StatCan - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

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Almost one in six Indigenous people lived in a home in need of major repairs in 2021, a rate almost three times higher than for the non-Indigenous population.

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Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
PDF Version
July 2017

Research and Statistics Division

Indigenous women represent 10% of the total population of missing women in Canada

According to the Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: 2015 Update to the National Operational Overview report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Indigenous women represent 10% (174) of the total population of women in Canada missing for at least 30 days reported by the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) (1,750). Of these, 111 women were identified as missing due to "unknown" circumstances or foul play was suspected.

Proportion of Indigenous women homicide victims increased since 1991

Between 1980 and 2014, there were 6,849 police-reported female homicide cases in Canada. Among the total number of female victims, 16% were Indigenous women. Since 1991, the number of murdered non-Indigenous women has declined. In contrast, the number of murdered Indigenous women has remained relatively stable, thus accounting for an increasing proportion of Indigenous female homicide victims. For example, in 1980, Indigenous women accounted for 9% (18) of female homicide victims, whereas in 2014, they accounted for 21% (30) of female homicide victims. In 2014, the rate of homicide of Indigenous women (3.64 per 100,000) was almost six times higher than non-Indigenous women (0.65 per 100,000).

Higher homicide rate of Indigenous women in the territories

Between 2001 and 2014, the territories had a police-reported homicide rate for Indigenous women that was higher than the overall rate in Canada. The prairies also had a higher police-reported homicide rate of Indigenous women than the overall rate in Canada. The largest difference in police-reported homicide rates between Indigenous women and non-Indigenous women was in the Yukon (12 times higher for Indigenous women) and in Saskatchewan (11 times higher for Indigenous women).

Half of the homicides of Indigenous women were committed by a family member

Of the total solved homicide cases of Indigenous women between 1980 and 2014, half (53%) were committed by a family member, a quarter (26%) by an acquaintance and 8% by strangers. The 2014 homicide survey found that fewer homicides of Indigenous women occurred in a residence (66%) compared to non-Indigenous women (88%). In addition, 17% of homicides of Indigenous women occurred on a street, a road, or a highway compared to 1% of non-Indigenous women.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Footnote 2

Miladinovic, Z., and Mulligan, L. Homicide in Canada, 2014. Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 85-002-X. 2015.

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Department of Justice Canada's Internet site

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https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-in-canada

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The Missing and Murdered: Statistics and Demographics

There is a lot of disagreement about the number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) acknowledged in a 2014 report that there have been more than 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women between 1980 and 2012. Indigenous women's groups, however, document the number of missing and murdered to be over 4,000. The confusion about the numbers has to do with the under-reporting of violence against Indigenous women and girls and the lack of an effective database, as well as the failure to identify such cases by ethnicity ( See Indigenous Women's Issues).

The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) has drawn attention to figures from Statistics Canada documenting high rates of violence against Indigenous women. For example, Indigenous women 15 years and older were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women, according to the 2004 General Social Survey. Violence against Indigenous women and girls is not only more frequent but also more severe. Between 1997 and 2000, the homicide rate for Indigenous women was nearly seven times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous women.

The demographics give a sense of the extent of the violence that Indigenous women and girls face across this country, but they fail to tell the stories of the deep trauma that this violence has on entire communities or the stories of children who have lost their mothers to senseless violence. The statistics cannot reflect the experiences of the families and communities who have lost a loved one. The missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls were mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties, cousins and grandmothers. Many were students completing post-secondary education, such as Loretta Saunders, an Inuk woman murdered at age 26 in 2014, who was completing her honours thesis on this very issue at the time she went missing. Some were only children, such as 14-year-old Azraya Acakabee Kokopenace and 15-year-old Tina Fontaine - who were both in the child welfare system at the time - or 16-year-old Delaine Copenace. This ongoing tragedy affects all Indigenous women and girls from all walks of life and throughout many communities and cities across Canada. Although some perpetrators are known to the victim, many are strangers.

Historical Context: Colonialism, Racism and the Sexualization of Women

Nick Printup, director and producer of the documentary Our Sisters in Spirit (2015), stated in a 2016 interview that "to begin to understand the severity of the tragedy facing Indigenous women today you must first understand the history." The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada is as old as the development of Canada itself and must be understood within the historical context of settler colonialism that has led to the ongoing racialization and sexualization of Indigenous women. Historically, Indigenous women were sexualized and held against dangerous cultural attitudes and stereotypes that permeate many facets of Canadian society today.

The late Mohawk poet Tekahionwake ( E. Pauline Johnson) wrote about these stereotypes 125 years ago. In an essay entitled "A Strong Race Opinion: On The Indian Girl in Modern Fiction," which was originally published in the Toronto Sunday Globe on 22 May 1892, Johnson spoke out about the images of the " Indian squaw" that were presented in mainstream literature. Similarly, in her book, Iskwewak - Kah'Ki Yaw Ni Wahkomakanak: Neither Indian Princesses nor Easy Squaws (1995), author Janice Acoose also drew attention to the racialized and sexualized legacy of settler colonialism that has led to an acceptance of violence. As Acoose noted, these colonial attitudes have justified many of the legally sanctioned policies that have targeted Indigenous women and families, such as the and residential schools. Other examples include the pass system (a process by which Indian agents approved passes for First Nations people to leave the reserve for whatever reason) and forced sterilization ( see Eugenics). These policies severely limited Indigenous women's livelihood by severing community ties and preventing Indigenous women's access to community resources and safety networks. Colonial attitudes also justified the mass removal of Indigenous children through policies of state apprehension, such as the Sixties Scoop, and this continues today in what is now referred to as the "Millennium Scoop." Violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada today cannot be understood without first examining the effects of Canada's deep history of settler colonialism on Indigenous families and communities.

Amnesty International: A Call to Action

In October 2004, Amnesty International released a report called Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence against Indigenous Women in Canada, in response to the appalling number of Indigenous women who are victims of racialized and sexualized violence. This report was positioned as a call for action. Amnesty highlighted the stories of nine women, including Helen Betty Osborne (a Cree woman abducted and killed at the age of 19 by four white men in The Pas, Manitoba, in 1971) and her 16-year-old cousin Felicia Solomon, whose remains were found in the Red River in 2003. Amnesty shared some stories of the missing and murdered to bring clarity to the severity of the violence faced by Indigenous women. The report also noted a lack of comprehensive reporting and statistical analysis, and called for more police accountability, stating that Indigenous women are both overpoliced and under protected. Amnesty documented the social and economic marginalization of Indigenous women, noting that racism, poverty and marginalization, along with a lack of police protection, heighten Indigenous women's vulnerability to violence.

Tragically, since 2004, the numbers have continued to rise. Five years after the initial report, Amnesty International released No More Stolen Sisters: The Need for a Comprehensive Response to Discrimination and Violence against Indigenous Women in Canada. This report highlighted the following five key issues as reasons for the continued national tragedy of violence against Indigenous women:

The role of racism and misogyny in perpetuating violence against Indigenous women

Sharp disparities in the fulfilment of Indigenous women's economic, social, political and cultural rights

The continued disruption of Indigenous societies caused by the historic and ongoing mass removal of children from Indigenous families and communities

Disproportionately high numbers of Indigenous women in Canadian prisons, many of whom are themselves the victims of violence and abuse

Inadequate police response to violence against Indigenous women as illustrated by the handling of missing persons cases

In 2014, Amnesty presented a report to the Special Parliamentary Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women entitled Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada: A Summary of Amnesty International's Concerns and Call to Action. This submission urged the federal government of Canada to take immediate action through a comprehensive approach to addressing violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

Amnesty International has been instrumental in the push to launch a national public inquiry alongside Indigenous communities, women's groups and grassroots movements.

Native Women's Association of Canada: Sisters in Spirit Initiative

The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) secured funds in 2005 from Status of Women Canada to research and provide awareness about violence against Indigenous women. With this funding, the Sisters in Spirit Initiative was launched. NWAC also developed a national database to track cases of violence against Indigenous women. Their work culminated in a final report entitled What Their Stories Tell Us: Research Findings from the Sisters in Spirit Initiative.

The report includes a framework for addressing and preventing violence against Indigenous women along with the stories of missing Indigenous women and recommendations for policy development. NWAC's prevention and safety policy includes tools for educating young Indigenous women and girls on safety issues and looks at risk factors that make Indigenous women vulnerable to violence, including poverty, homelessness and lack of affordable housing ( See also Social Conditions of Indigenous Peoples and Economic Conditions of Indigenous Peoples).

The need for police accountability and transparency, cultural sensitivity training and forming good relationships with Indigenous communities are other key areas highlighted in the report. NWAC also expressed a need for more research and awareness about various forms of violence, particularly violence perpetrated by strangers or acquaintances. The need for improvements in tracking and identifying cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women was another key area identified in the report. NWAC articulated that the violence experienced by Indigenous women is much higher than reported in government statistics and police-collected data. The report noted that about six out of ten incidents of violent crimes against Indigenous people go unreported and that demographic information is not always collected ( See also Demography of Indigenous Peoples).

The Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women

The Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women (LSC) was formed in 2014 following the murder of Inuk student Loretta Saunders. The coalition is a Canada-wide advocacy group that supports a national inquiry and seeks to bring justice to the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In February 2015, the LSC released a report in which it argued that over 700 recommendations made in 58 reports on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls have been largely ignored by police and government.

RCMP Reports on Violence against Indigenous Women

In 2013, the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) called for a report on missing and murdered Indigenous women to help guide operational planning. In May 2014, the RCMP released Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview. This report documented a total of 1,181 people - 164 missing Indigenous women and 1,017 Indigenous female homicide victims between 1980 and 2012. An updated report was released in 2015, entitled Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: 2015 Update to the National Operational Overview. This update documented an additional 11 Indigenous women identified as missing since the 2014 overview was conducted.

Prior to these reports, the RCMP's investigations of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls had included a stretch of British Columbia's Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears. While the RCMP acknowledges 18 murders and disappearances (mostly of Indigenous women and girls) in its list of Highway of Tears cases, dating from 1969 to 2006, Indigenous groups argue that this number is misleading because it reflects only the disappearances and murders that have happened in a specific geographic area, and that the real number in northern British Columbia exceeds 40.

Critique of RCMP Reports

Groups including Amnesty International and the Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence against Indigenous Women (LSC) critiqued the RCMP report for having critical gaps in the data. Amnesty noted that the 2015 update only included cases within the RCMP's own jurisdiction. Over 300 non-RCMP police agencies were included in the original 2014 report, but these were excluded from the update. According to Amnesty International, this means that missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Ontario and Québec, for example, were not included in the update. This is concerning given the mistrust and violence that has historically characterized Indigenous-police relationships. In the fall of 2015, eight officers from the Sûreté du Québec were suspended as a result of 14 allegations of abuse of power, sexual assault and other forms of assault against Indigenous women.

The LSC criticized the 2015 report for highlighting intimate partner violence as a risk factor, which places blame on Indigenous men and communities while failing to point out that many of the perpetrators are acquaintances or strangers.

Response from the Federal Government

Despite the ongoing push from Indigenous women and communities and human rights groups such as Amnesty International, the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action, Human Rights Watch and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the federal government continued to dismiss the need to launch a national public inquiry. In fact, former prime minister Stephen Harper, speaking at Yukon College in Whitehorse in August 2014, following the death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine - who was killed after she left her foster home - stated that violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada should not be viewed as "sociological phenomenon." In other words, the Fontaine case was not part of a larger crisis resulting from a variety of racial, sexual and colonial abuses or socio-economic issues. Several months later, on 17 December 2014, during an interview with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge, Stephen Harper stated that a national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women wasn't "really high on [the government's] radar."

Following the change in government in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the government of Canada launched a national public inquiry.

National Public Inquiry

Justin Trudeau gives a speech on missing and murdered Indigenous women in front of Parliament in Ottawa (October 2016).

On 8 December 2015, the Government of Canada announced plans for the launch of an independent national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The government pledged $53.86 million over the course of two years for the inquiry, and held a "pre-inquiry" to seek input from stakeholders across Canada. The inquiry was officially launched in September 2016. From the outset, the commission of inquiry was scheduled to provide a final report by 1 November 2018, outlining its findings and recommendations for steps forward.
Pre-Inquiry Findings
The first step of the investigation was a pre-inquiry process, which took place between December 2015 and February 2016. The goal was to receive input from groups including family members, Indigenous communities and front-line workers about the scope and structure of the inquiry. This process aligns with the inquiry's commitment to focus on the well-being of Indigenous families and to ensure the process is culturally appropriate. A summary of the feedback from the pre-inquiry process was published in May 2016. It included four recommendations:

The inquiry's leadership must be transparent, independent and representative of the Indigenous population. It was also recommended that Indigenous women should lead the inquiry. The investigation itself must be "sensitive to the needs of survivors, families and loved ones. Efforts must be made to avoid a long, drawn-out and legal process"

The inquiry must address various points of view and must hear from as many people and organizations as possible

A "broad approach to [the inquiry's] analysis of the issues" is important. The inquiry must take into consideration - and recommend solutions to - all of the socio-economic, cultural and political causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, trans and two-spirited people. (See also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada)

The inquiry must provide various forms of support to families and their allies. This includes ceremonies, spiritual support, mental health counselling and community support

Based on these findings, the government appointed five commissioners to lead the inquiry: Marion Buller (chief commissioner, member of the Mistawasis First Nation and first Indigenous woman appointed to British Columbia's provincial court bench); Michèle Audette (former president of the Native Women's Association of Canada); Brian Eyolfson (human rights lawyer); Marilyn Poitras (constitutional law expert); and Qajaq Robinson (lawyer raised in Nunavut). The inquiry also includes other staff and will likely not hear formal testimony from the families until spring 2017. Marilyn Poitras resigned as a commissioner in July 2017, stating that she is "unable to perform [her] duties as a commissioner with the process designed in its current structure."
National Inquiry Findings
The National Inquiry officially began on 1 September 2016. It was expected to release an interim report by 1 November 2017 and a final report by 1 November 2018.
Criticisms of the Inquiry
There have been some critiques of the commission from various Indigenous groups, who say it lacks transparency, communication and inclusivity. In December 2016, the Native Women's Association of Canada stated that the commission failed to keep families informed of its progress. In February 2017, the inquiry fired its communications director, Michael Hutchinson (of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), causing concern that the hearing of testimony might be further delayed. While Hutchinson's interim replacement, Sue Montgomery (of theMontreal Gazette) has said that this would not delay the inquiry, the families of the missing and murdered continued to press the commissioners for more clarity and better communication.

Some activists have also criticized the commission for failing to include missing and murdered Indigenous men, boys, trans and two-spirited people in the inquiry. In February 2017, Susan Vella, the commission's lead counsel, said that while the inquiry is open to hearing testimony from Indigenous men and boys, its focus will remain on Indigenous women and girls. The commission also indicated that its inquiry will include groups such as two-spirited and trans people.

Prevailing Attitudes toward Indigenous Women

During an opening address at an international conference on MMIWG, writer Maria Campbell stated that "patriarchy and misogyny are so ingrained in our society that they are normal, and our silence makes them normal." Other Indigenous women activists have referred to the lack of awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women as a "deafening silence." The following examples demonstrate the ways stereotypes that may lead to violence against Indigenous women and girls are perpetuated and accepted within different venues throughout society. In the two cases below, Indigenous women spoke out to raise awareness about such violence.

In 2012, Mi'kmaq lawyer, activist and professor Pamela Palmater spoke out against offensive names of menu items at the Holy Chuck Restaurant. The "Half-Breed" and "Dirty Drunken Half-Breed" were the names of two hamburgers on the menu. These terms are racial slurs that have been used to perpetuate violence against Indigenous peoples.

In July 2015, two paintings appeared on a storefront window - including one depicting bound and gagged Indigenous women - during the Hospitality Days cultural festival in Bathurst, New Brunswick. Patty Musgrave, Aboriginal advisor for New Brunswick Community College, wrote to city council, expressing her outrage at the painting, which trivialized, and perhaps even glorified, violence against Indigenous women and the history of colonialism. Musgrave stated that "the building that housed these art pieces was a building in which two human beings were murdered. One a woman. These murders were never solved and ... it is quite offensive that you would allow paintings to be hung in the windows of this building while still-grieving families must see this as part of your 'Hospitality Days.'"

Activists and the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women continue to persevere against these prevailing attitudes, seeking justice, accountability, reconciliation and better public education ( See also Indigenous Peoples: Political Organization and Activism).

Support and Awareness

In recent years, with the launch of the national public inquiry and more awareness about MMIWG, there has been a tremendous amount of support for Indigenous families and communities. Indigenous associations have provided political, emotional and legal support and have also been instrumental in pushing for an inquiry. Annual marches, vigils, the making of documentaries, and other awareness campaigns have brought people together with a common goal of seeking justice. The annual Women's Memorial March, also called Their Spirits Live Within Us, has taken place every 14 February since the early 1990s. The first one was held in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, in unceded Coast Salish territories ( see Indigenous Territory). The Memorial March now takes place in cities across Canada to raise awareness, promote empathy and compassion, and bring healing to families that have lost a loved one.

In 2017, the Government of Manitoba officially recognized 4 October as a day to honour MMIWG. The fourth of October is also marked by Sisters in Spirit vigils that bring awareness and honour the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Events that take place on this day are supported through the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and take place in cities across Canada. Other grassroots initiatives to raise awareness include the Walking with Our Sisters Campaign and the REDress Campaign (two separate art installation projects) and the Faceless Dolls Project (an initiative of the NWAC).

Support has also come from non-Indigenous allies who have participated in vigils and awareness campaigns, as well as mainstream media, which has begun documenting and providing public education about violence against Indigenous women and girls, such as the CBC. In June 2016, it was announced that actress Zoe Saldana ( Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy) was working on a documentary called "Gone Missing" to help raise awareness about MMIWG.

The National Inquiry's Final Report

On 3 June 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its Final Report titled Reclaiming Power and Place. After more than two years of testimony from Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, experts, and 1,484 survivors and family members of the missing and murdered, in addition to cross-Canada public hearings and evidence-gathering from many Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups and individuals, the Final Report was unveiled at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. Chief Commissioner Marion Buller, Commissioners Michèle Audette, Qajaq Robinson, and Brian Eyolfson, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, family and friends of the missing and murdered, as well as national and provincial Indigenous leaders gathered to release the findings of the National Inquiry to the public.

The two-volume report spanned more than 1,000 pages and contained 231 individual "Calls for Justice." These were "legal imperatives," not merely "recommendations," to immediate action on behalf of Indigenous and non-Indigenous governments, institutions, social service providers, industries, and individual Canadians of all walks of life. Chief Commissioner Marion Buller declared that "Despite their different circumstances and backgrounds, all of the missing and murdered are connected by economic, social and political marginalization, racism, and misogyny woven into the fabric of Canadian society."

In unequivocal terms, Buller condemned Canadian society for its indifference and inaction in the face of the tragedy confronting Indigenous women and girls for the past several decades: "The hard truth is that we live in a country whose laws and institutions perpetuate violations of fundamental rights, amounting to a genocide against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA [two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual] people."

The Final Report declared that the violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people is "a national tragedy of epic proportion." The commissioners called for a new era in relations between Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQQIA, and the Canadian people, a relationship centred on the empowerment of Indigenous women and girls: "To put an end to this tragedy, the rightful power and place of women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people must be reinstated, which requires dismantling the structures of colonialism within Canadian society."

Despite hundreds of pages of heartbreaking testimonials and studies revealing thousands of lives lost and families destroyed, Commissioner Qajaq Robinson wrote in a spirit of hopefulness that "Ending this genocide and rebuilding Canada into a decolonized nation requires a new relationship and an equal partnership between all Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. I hope that the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls can be a tool to do just that." This spirit of hopefulness was echoed by Jeremiah Bosse, widower of Daleen Bosse, a woman from Onion Lake Cree Nation murdered in May 2004: "Today I feel hopeful for the first time that as victims of violence our words will be heard. The words of our lost ones are spoken! We will be there to represent them; they may be lost, but they are not forgotten!"
National Inquiry Facts
2,386-Total number of participants in the Truth Gathering Process:

1,484 family members and survivors provided testimony

819 individuals shared through artistic expressions

83 experts, Knowledge Keepers and officials provided testimony

15 community hearings were held across Canada

9 Knowledge Keeper, expert and institutional hearings were held across Canada

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Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada

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Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada (MMIWG) refers to a human rights crisis that has only recently become a topic of discussion within nat...

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A new report by a coalition of human rights advocates is calling on the federal government to establish an independent external review of Canada's national police force to address its treatment of women.

Published May 9, the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) says its report finds there is "growing evidence of systemic discrimination and violence" against women by the national police force. According to the 56-page document, Indigenous women are disproportionately impacted.

"Indigenous women and girls have long been targets of sexualized violence and exploitation at the hands of state actors, including the police," said Pamela Palmater, a Mi'kmaw lawyer and chair in Indigenous governance at Toronto Metropolitan University, during a virtual news conference Monday.

Palmater researched and co-wrote the report with Sivangi Misra, Ashley Major, and Shelagh Day of FAFIA. The report was funded in part by the federal government's Department for Women and Gender Equality.

The organization, which is made up of women's human rights advocacy organizations across Canada, compiled and analyzed news reports, public inquiries, and documents published in the last decade. The report says they show evidence of a pattern of discrimination, harassment, and assault against women by officers of the RCMP.

FAFIA wants a review to address how the RCMP treats women both as an employer and service provider.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, an RCMP spokesperson said the force is aware of the report.

"The RCMP is subject to review by a number of external review bodies," the statement continued.

"As we've demonstrated in the past on a variety of subjects, we welcome any examination that could improve our operations. While acknowledging there remains much to do, the RCMP has been active in implementing change."

The report was submitted to federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien.

In an emailed statement, the minister of Public Safety wrote "There is absolutely no place for misogyny, harassment or violence within the RCMP or in Canadian society."

"For too long, there has been a culture within the RCMP that is permissive of systemic inequities and has led to misogyny, discrimination, harassment and workplace violence."

The statement said the ministry is implementing reforms by creating the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, strengthening oversight of the RCMP's Management Advisory Board and ensuring that the RCMP's workforce is more reflective of the diversity of the country.

The ministry of Women and Gender Equality and Youth has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Land defenders 'vilified'

Palmater said a culture of misogyny and racism in the RCMP was made evident by former Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache's 2020 findings in his report on the implementation of the Merlo-Davidson Settlement, on the sexual harassment of RCMP employees.

"If female RCMP officers are not safe from sexual assaults by male officers, it should be no surprise that marginalized Indigenous women and girls are not safe either," said Palmater.

The study also cites other reports, including the final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, as evidence of the RCMP's failure to prevent violence against Indigenous women and girls, and failure to thoroughly investigate their disappearances and deaths.

It also says Indigenous land defenders, many of whom are women, are "vilified, surveilled, criminalized, and subjected to violence by the RCMP" by being arrested and forcibly removed from their territories.

"These acts and failures violate women's right to equality and non-discrimination," said Shelagh Day, the chair of FAFIA's human rights committee.

" Canada cannot have a credible national action plan on violence against women or a credible national action plan on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls until the culture of misogyny and racism in the RCMP is rooted out."

"The systemic issues that this report raises, as well as the many instances, sadly of and horrifically of discrimination, are echoed in a number of institutions right now in this country, military, prisons, as well as within the police," said Sen. Kim Pate at the news conference.

"While there has been a lot of effort to try and address these issues, we see the very real need for the kinds of calls for accountability and oversight that FAFIA has brought forward."

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Indigenous women face higher rates of systemic discrimination, violence by RCMP, says report | CBC News

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A new report by a coalition of human rights advocates is calling on the federal government to establish an independent external review of Canada's national police force to address its treatment of women. Published May 9, the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) says its report finds there is "growing evidence of systemic discrimination and violence" against women by the national police force.