Evaluation of First Nations Individual Affairs

Background

This evaluation focuses on four Individual Affairs sub-programs, hereafter referred to as service offerings:

1. Registration and Secure Certificate of Indian^{Footnote 3} Status (SCIS) - As part of this service offering, the Individual Affairs Branch is mainly responsible for: registering eligible First Nations individuals in the Indian Register, recording life events in the Indian Register; determining eligibility for registration under the Indian Act; providing information to other government Departments using the Indian Register in accordance with the Privacy Act^{Footnote 4}; maintaining departmentally controlled Band lists and providing advice on matters of Band divisions or amalgamations; and issuing or replacing and Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS) cards and developing policies and directives to facilitate the registration and card issuance process.
2. Indian Moneys - Indian Moneys are defined by the Indian Act as, "all moneys collected, received or held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of Indians or bands." Indian Moneys belong to bands or individual band members and are held in trust by Canada. There are two types of Indian Moneys: Trust Moneys and Band Moneys. Trust Moneys involves the creation and maintenance of individual accounts for per capita distributions and estates management, while Band Moneys are capital and revenue moneys held in separate interest-bearing accounts under the name of a particular band. The Individual Affairs Branch is mainly responsible for providing access to money held in Trust by the Government of Canada (Canada) on behalf of First Nation bands or individual band members.
3. Estates - As per sections 42 through 52 of the Indian Act, the Minister of Indigenous Services is responsible for the management of Indian estates. The Individual Affairs Branch supports the Minister's obligations with the actual authorities for estates and moneys delegated to the Regional Director Generals. This includes the management of decedent estates, estates belonging to dependent adults, as well as the estates of minors. As part of this service offering, the Individual Affairs Branch is mainly responsible for developing policies and procedures; provides national guidance to regions with estates responsibilities guidance, information, support for the management and administration of estates at the national office and in the regions; appointing administrators and executors and acting as administrators of last resort.
4. Treaty Annuities and the Treaty Annuity Payment Experience - The treaty annuities program is responsible for the administration and payment of annual annuities based on treaties signed with the Crown. Individual band members of the signatory bands of thirteen treaties, namely the Robinson–Superior, the Robinson–Huron treaties, and the numbered treaties (1 to 11) are recipients of annuity payments. The Treaty Annuity Payment Experience (TAPE) provides departmental employees with a unique learning opportunity, by inviting them to assist with the treaty payment events held across the country. The Individual Affairs Branch is responsible for maintaining treaty pay lists; paying treaty annuities; and running the TAPE/TAPE-2 program.

Evaluation Scope and Methodology

This scope of the evaluation the period from Fiscal Year 2014-15 to 2018-19 and includes each of the four service offerings managed by the Individual Affairs Branch. Moreover, although not part of the original scope, the evaluation also incorporates more recent data and actions taken by ISC to address service offering issues, especially in the context of devolution (service transfer) and the COVID-19 pandemic. At the request of the Individual Affairs Program, the evaluation team placed particular attention on services to individuals. Moreover, the evaluation team focussed on the most significant activities and business lines of the Branch, in terms of expenditures and contribution to intended outcomes. The evaluation was led by an evaluation team from the Evaluation Directorate within ISC.

Primary data collection occurred from November 2020 to March 2021. The evaluation relied on a mixed-methods approach that included the following lines of evidence: a document, literature and media review; key informant interviews and focus groups; and a country-wide survey of Indian Registration Administrators. As data collection occurred in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with the resultant travel restrictions, direct site visits were not possible and were instead replaced by remote video/telephone interview through various communications platforms.

Main Findings

2.1 Program Description

The Individual Affairs Program is the lead program for the government's legislative and administrative responsibilities for registration, membership, Indian status cards, treaty annuity payments, trust moneys, and estates. The work of the Program is diverse and comprehensive, including supporting the Indian Registrar, issuing registration documents such as the Secure Certificate of Indian Status, issuing treaty annuity payments as provided for by the historic treaties, administering estates as provided for under the Indian Act, and providing access to moneys held in trust by Canada on behalf of First Nations.^{Footnote 14} The following service offerings were reviewed as part of this evaluation.

2.2 Program Objectives and Expected Outcomes

While the Individual Affairs Branch was previously housed within the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs (CIRNAC), it was shifted to ISC in July 2019. When it was housed within CIRNAC, the Branch was linked to the Core Responsibility of Rights and Self-Determination within CIRNAC's Departmental Results Framework. The Branch is part of a suite of programs that supports "Indigenous and northern organizations, individuals, communities and governments in controlling and managing their own affairs and interests based on the recognition and honoring of rights, respect, collaboration and partnerships." Individual Affairs contributes to the following departmental results: Indigenous peoples and Northerners determine their political, economic, social and cultural development; Indigenous peoples and Northerners advance their governance institutions; and past injustices are recognized and resolved.

The Ultimate Outcome of the Individual Affairs Program is:
First Nations peoples, communities and governments control and manage their own affairs.^{Footnote 23}

The Intermediate Outcome of the Individual Affairs Program is:
First Nations citizens and communities exercise rights and self-determination to broader policy and legislative reform through increased involvement and collaboration.

The Immediate Outcomes of the Individual Affairs Program are:

• Decisions on Individual Entitlements to registration under the Indian Act are rendered;
• First Nations peoples and communities manage their estates and Indian Moneys;
• Individual rights to receive treaty annuities are fulfilled.

Based on these outcomes the overall goal of the Individual Affairs Branch is to administer federal and Departmantal enabling legislation correctly, efficiently, and with integrity.

The full Logic Model for the Individual Affairs program and its service offerings is presented in Annex A.

2.3 Program Management, Key Partners, and Beneficiaries

The Individual Affairs Program operates under the Regional Operations Sector at ISC. Across the four service offerings, activities are jointly organized and carried out by headquarters and regional offices, as well as through Indian Registration Administrators (IRAs) at the band level. Roles and responsibilities for program management, other key stakeholders and beneficiaries are described below relating to each service offering.

3.1 Scope and Evaluation Issues

This evaluation covers the period from Fiscal Year 2014-15 to 2018-19 per Treasury Board requirements and includes each of the four service offerings managed by the Individual Affairs Branch. The evaluation was undertaken to provide a neutral and evidence-based assessment of relevance, performance (program delivery), efficiency, lessons learned, and best practices for the following activities: Registration and Secure Certificate of Indian Status, Indian Moneys, Estates, and Treaty Annuities. Moreover, although not part of the original scope, the evaluation also incorporates more recent data and actions taken by ISC to address service offering issues, especially in the context of devolution (service transfer) and the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation was led by an evaluation team from the Evaluation Directorate within ISC.

At the request of the Individual Affairs Program, the evaluation team placed particular attention on services to individuals. Moreover, the evaluation team focussed on the most significant activities and business lines of the Branch, in terms of expenditures and contribution to intended outcomes. In this regard:

• The evaluation included all aspects of the Individual Affairs Branch's work in the area of Registration, but placed less emphasis on the issuance of CIS cards as the Branch's role is very limited in this work, with First Nation bands almost entirely responsible;
• As part of Trust Moneys, the evaluation placed greater focus on trust accounts for decedent estates, dependent adults and minors, and less on those for adoptees, missing heirs and suspense accounts.

The evaluation operated through a lens of Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus),the impact on children and families, and reconciliation.

Annex B of this report lists the specific questions and issues that guided the evaluation.

3.2 Design and Methods

The evaluation was led by a team from the Evaluation Directorate within ISC. The Methodology Report was finalized in October 2020, with primary data collection occurring from November 2020 to March 2021.

The evaluation relied on a mixed-methods approach that included the following lines of evidence: a document, literature and media review; 52 key informant interviews with ISC representatives in the national and regional offices, as well as other government of Canada informants outside the IA program, and partner organizations including various Indigenous Friendship Centres and Land Management Organizations and the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association (NATOA); 17 focus group discussions with Indian Registration Administrators (IRAs), Indigenous Land Managers, and TAPE-2 participants, and; a survey of 256 IRAs from communities across Canada.

Following the initial data collection phase described above, the evaluation team also investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on IA service offerings by conducting follow-up interviews with ISC staff at both headquarters and in the regions. 

3.3 Limitations

The primary limitation of the evaluation was the inability of the evaluation team to conduct site visits to both regions and communities, due to travel restrictions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the evaluation team pivoted to conducting remote key informant interviews and focus groups by leveraging communications technology, as well as the distribution of the IRA survey which received robust responses from all regions involved in the IA program across Canada. While the inability to conduct site visits and in-person interviews was not ideal, the necessitated switch to remote data collection did not have an impact on the overall findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation. A secondary limitation was a lack of data on the measurement of service delivery, in terms of the Individual Affairs Program meeting service standards in some regions and at the national office.

3.4 Indigenous Engagement

Individual Affairs service offerings are of great significance to First Nations in Canada. As such, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was offered an opportunity to provide input into the methodology of the evaluation and at the preliminary findings stage. The evaluation report was shared with the AFN. Additionally, the evaluation team was able to conduct multiple focus groups with IRAs and other Indigenous partners linked to Individual Affairs service offerings, including 7 key informant interviews with Friendship Centers, 13 focus group discussions with IRAs, and 1 focus group discussion with Indigenous Land Managers.

3.5 Organization of Findings

While this evaluation looked at the IA program as a holistic entity, the key focus was, to a greater extent, on the performance of each of the four individual service offerings, as there is little overlap, from a management and operational perspective, amongst them. As such, many of the evaluation's findings are service offering-specific, as opposed to program-wide. Findings 1-5 may be considered to cross-cut two or more IA service offerings, while the remainder are specific to the four service offerings.

5.1 Access Needs for Urban Clients

ISC Respondents and partner organizations across the regions emphasized that accessing registration and card issuance, as well as Treaty Annuity payments in urban areas remains a barrier. As of 2016, 14% of registered Indians live off-reserve and 45% of Non-Status Indians live in urban areas.^{Footnote 29}

To provide registration and card issuance services in urban areas, there are currently 16 kiosks that offer services off-reserve. While these offer service to urban clients in the 16 locations, respondents emphasized that difficulties in accessing services in urban centres remains an accessibility barrier for cities without a kiosk. "[The] barrier we have is environmental geography… we know not everyone can come to Winnipeg to get SCIS [Secure Certificate of Indian Status], so let's set-up areas in Island Lakes or Thompson. People can get closer to get the processes done," stated a Manitoba ISC respondent, although this a common barrier expressed by many regions. Partner organizations reported that the kiosks simply do not cover sufficient geographic scope. The alternative to the kiosks is the toll-free telephone number (public enquiries contact centre is managed by the Chief Finances Results Delivery Office), but respondents noted that it does not offer the guidance or information they require. The barriers to urban service provision will likely continue to be an issue, as with changes to the Indian Act (including Bill S-3^{Footnote 30}), the majority of those who are newly eligible for status are urban First Nations peoples.

Some ISC respondents suggested partnering with Friendship Centres and Tribal Councils to deliver registration and status card application to allow for greater support in urban centres. Friendship Centre respondents noted that they often do support clients with their applications and noted the difficulties (both with the complexity of the process and the financial strain) of the process. "We're already doing this work. We're already picking up the slack. Shielding the clients so that when you have to make those calls, we will provide services to make it easier and we will follow up because they [clients] may not have the strength to do so," stated one Friendship centre respondent. Friendship Centre respondents also stated a need to consult with the clients and Nations they serve before committing to offering such services.

In terms of urban accessibility of Treaty Annuities, both IRAs and ISC respondents noted that many individuals, while eligible for annuity payments, have not returned to their communities for several years, resulting in non-payment of many treaty beneficiaries (in fact, there was a recorded non-payment amount of $845,102 in 2019/20^{Footnote 31}). While there have been pilot payment events in some Canadian urban areas, many ISC respondents expressed that additional mechanisms need to be put in place to meet the growing off-reserve demand, especially in the context of potential modernization. Urban events have also tended to draw in young people that are unsure if they are eligible. These urban events allow clients to determine if they are eligible without travelling to sometimes remote treaty locations.

One proposed partnership between ISC and Service Canada would potentially be able to reach more people where Indigenous Service Canada regional offices are not easily accessible to community members. Regional ISC respondents also indicated they would like to see an online platform for submission of applicants in a portal format to also improve ease in which clients can access treaty payments. There are currently mail in options for those who cannot attend live events as well as a fillable email-in form being developed.

5.2 Access to Training

Training capacities and access to training tools also varies across regions and across service offerings. For example, while there exists dedicated training for decedent and living estates, there is a lack of training modules for minors and dependent adults. Regional ISC staff have also reported that they are unaware of estates training modules and tools offered in the French language. In response to the lack of training modules available, some regions have taken to developing in-house training materials to better support current employees and with on-boarding new employees. Additionally, while some IRAs in certain regions receive further training (i.e. supporting clients to complete estate forms), while other IRAs are unaware of estates related information to share with clients and this can limit their ability to address queries from their communities. This can also place IRAs in difficult circumstances who have limited access to training on new legislation and subsequent impact on registration procedures (i.e. Bill S-3), in providing clients with correct information and/or challenging misinformation from community leadership.

It was also highlighted in a Departmental internal review of the Indian Registration and Estates Reporting Systems, that there is a lack of formal training available for the four data systems (the other two being the Treaty Payment System and the SCIS web application), as well as the fact that training material is outdated or may not exist for all systems. This can be especially challenging for new employees who rely heavily on on-the-job training to perform their duties and engage with the various data systems and may be engaging with systems inconsistently.

6.1 Data Systems

The Indian Registration System (IRS)^{Footnote 32} and the Estates Reporting System (ERS)^{Footnote 33} are outdated and are not meeting the needs of clients and end-users. As a legacy system, the IRS has survived beyond the time limit of a typical product life cycle management, with the last technical upgrade to the system made in 2013. ISC Respondents, both national and regional, noted that both the IRS and ERS systems lack capital and technical investment, and there continue to remain difficulties in inputting data and making amendments to files, as noted in the 2013 Evaluation of Indian Moneys, Estates and Treaty Annuities^{Footnote 34}. ISC respondents highlighted the potential risk of data loss with antiquated systems that hold large amounts of personal data. Current data systems remain operational and continue to be used by ISC staff, however as the IA Branch continues to improve and enhance its service delivery model, it will require modern data systems that match its needs and that are designed with the client in mind.  

A Government of Canada respondent expressed a lack of investment in changing the status quo: "Incremental improvements are not enough. No way the system can change as little as it has in the last 10 years in the next 10 years and that means that the systems will in no way be ready for service transfer. We need to change the way were investing in it."

These system challenges have a significant impact on client services. "IT tools are a constant factor that's woven into our work. Things are slow, things fail, things don't work with any speed, and we wait for a long time for files to open or download. It takes 15 minutes to even log in. If you're going to expect appropriate results, you need to give employees appropriate tools," another ISC respondent explained.

It is critical to address the limited functionality of both the IRS and ERS as the IA Branch faces the potential consequences of providing inaccurate information to First Nations, monitoring an incorrect number of living estates leading to potential failure of administering estates files, and further adding to the serious backlog of registration applications. From a project management perspective, the inability to generate reliable data and the inconsistencies of Regional Offices usage of the systems have further contributed to this backlog. To offer improved client services, ISC respondents (national and regional office) stated a need to be able to accurately track and report system data, including the need to be able to access a client's file and provide an accurate update to the client regarding their application status. "There is no way that I can say "show me this person's file' [in the IRS]." One ISC National respondent imagined a system in which a client or their family could track the status of their application like one would track a shipment. More broadly, there is no way to track how many applications have come into a regional office in any given time period, making it difficult to track progress and resource full-time employees properly. This problem was highlighted for both the IRS and ERS.

The systems also present great risk to the branch and the Department as they are at constant risk of crashing. "The [IRS] structure right now like is like a Jenga tower, you can poke and play a little bit with it but can't do too much because we know it will crash," aptly highlighted by an ISC respondent. The risk of a system that holds so much personal data as well as facilitates one's access to ISC services is high. As well, the aforementioned Departmental internal review of the IRS and ERS supports this, stating that the most significant risk is related to recoverability of the IRS should the system encounter data loss. Privacy breaches are also a potential concern.

Ultimately, the limitations of both the IRS and ERS may affect the ability of the Crown to fulfill its obligations to First Nations.

6.2 Organizational Structures

Many respondents indicated that there is very little consistency around responsibilities, scope, reporting relationships, and organizational structures across regions. It is common for staff working in different classifications and levels to be responsible for the same tasks. This was identified as creating internal tensions in some cases as those staff at working levels, regardless of classifications are all responsible for similar deliverables. "It's all over the place. I've been places where a PM3 runs the show alone, or a single CR4 sitting alone, other place it's a PM1," shared one national office respondent. These inconsistencies in staffing have a deep impact on client service and overall program management. Some regions were considered by respondents to be effectively managed while others were considered to be managed less effectively, but there is no clear picture of what each office is doing, what is working well and what can be applied more broadly across offices.

Inconsistencies over the organizational structures has had large impacts on regional offices. Part of the reason for the backlog in registration is the need to train people elsewhere than the national office to deal with complex files (including pre-1985 applications). The amendments to the Indian Act that have unfolded, Bill S-3 and the 60s Scoop Settlement for example, have required that the Registration and Card Issuance service offering be adaptable. "[These changes] impact our operations. We need to change our policies, we need to do new job aids for staff, get them trained. Every time there is a change it has impact on operations," stated one ISC respondent. Many ISC staff agree that national workload management, which allows staff from across the country to pick-up each other's files, would be a good strategy. However according to one manager, "it will never be a true national workload if it's one-way, if we [HQ] can take their [regions'] work but they [regions] can't take ours [HQ]. The big backlog isn't in the regions – it's at HQ that there is a backlog of 25,000 files. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't know why we pretend we don't need the help or pretend we're doing workload management if nobody can take our workload." Many ISC regional staff agree that regions should be brought to deal with complex files, should access the same training and be able to access the same elements of the IRS system. In addition to the need to expand processing of complex files, a key challenge highlighted by ISC staff was the length of time it takes to train new employees to do registration. "[It is a] minimum of 6-12 months to grasp what registration is. It's not made for everyone." Consequently, when a large influx of applications follows a settlement it takes many months to build the human resource capacity to address it.

The evaluation team noted much desire amongst ISC regional respondents to further decentralize tasks, including providing greater responsibility and possibility for regional offices to take on increasingly complex decisions and IRAs to take on greater responsibility and access to the IRS.

7.1 National Program

ISC Interview respondents, both regional and national, suggested that there is great variability in the extent to which each regional and national office meet service standards, with some having no backlog and others struggling to process applications. Many ISC and partner respondents also suggested that clients' service experience can vary widely depending on which office they submit their application to. This is problematic in a national program which aims to deliver services to clients consistently across the country, regardless of the point of service entry. Highlighting these concerns, two ISC respondents stated the following:

According to many ISC respondents, it is believed that processing time inconsistencies exist due to two main factors. The first is rooted in all complex files being delegated to national office and the lack of a national workload management system as outlined in finding 5. The second is the discrepancies in organizational structure across regions and national office. Specifically, since there exists differences in processes and staffing levels at both regional and national office levels, it undoubtedly impacts the timeliness for processing registration applications.

7.2 Intended Outcomes

The Individual Affairs branch has established a service standard of 6 months for rendering registration decisions; 8 months for rendering registration decisions where an adoption has taken place; and 16 weeks for issuing Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS) cards to applicants.

The evaluation team was unable to obtain recent data regarding the extent to which the branch is meeting these service standards, at the national or in the regional offices. According to program documents from 2018-19, the national office is processing only 38% of registration applications within the service standard timeframe and has incurred a backlog of over 4,000 [registration] files. National office ISC respondents indicated that there has been an increase in the backlog of registration applications following Bill S-3 legislative amendments. Regular access to reliable data regarding the number of registration applicants and the time for processing applications, disaggregated by region, would allow the registration team to identify areas that require the most attention for improvement.

Respondents indicated that the time for rendering decisions can be unpredictable and variable. "[The] service standard for registration is just words" a respondent said. "Having to write a letter saying it could take 6 months – 2 years to render a decision is unacceptable... We should be able to make a decision right away," said another. Additional respondents also provided anecdotal evidence that certain registration decisions can take years to be rendered, including straightforward, simple decisions:

Delays and/or issues with timeliness of rendering registration decisions has significant consequences for people's lives, as status acts as a gateway to accessing other ISC services and rights they are entitled to. As individuals await registration decisions they can be placed at great risk, both physically and financially, because they are unable to receive services and benefits, they would otherwise be eligible for during the waiting period. In short, significant delays in processing applications can have severe impacts on individuals, families and communities, as well as their access to treaty annuity payments where eligible. It can also jeopardize the ability of the Crown to fulfill its obligations to First Nations.

Delays with timeliness of registration decisions also leads to inefficiencies and extra work for programs outside of the Individual Affairs branch that require confirmation of Indian status for offering benefits and services. For example, respondents from one ISC program indicated that they are increasingly doing extra work to avoid children having a gap in their access to services:

This ISC program also indicated that they increasingly receive complaints from their clients:

Finally, delays in processing registration and card issuance have been perceived and expressed as a lack of investment in serving First Nations people and as disrespectful and racist. This was noted by IRAs in both the survey and focus group discussions, as well as in the media.^{Footnote 35} Often times, respondents have compared the registration wait times to applying for a driver's license, health card, or passport, in which wait times are clearly communicated to clients, with quick turnaround times. The months or years-long wait for an SCIS card is seen by some as a lack of respect for First Nations populations and their needs. "Make it easier for people to access it. It is ridiculous how hard it is" stated a partner organization representative.

When it comes to SCIS, ISC respondents reported that their service standard of 16 weeks is being met. Despite this, 75% of IRA survey respondents noted the time it takes to obtain an SCIS card is a barrier to uptake. In other words, 16 weeks is too long to incentivize a change. IRAs highlighted that many clients are accustomed to walking out of the IRA's office with a new CIS card and are not able to wait multiple months for a new SCIS card. In addition, 66% of respondents from the IRA survey agreed that not having a way to track progress of card issuance is a barrier for clients to switching to the SCIS card. Other challenges noted by IRAs included: the difficulty in finding guarantors, and many clients not having access to two forms of identification required when applying for a SCIS card. While ISC intended for First Nations peoples to transition away from the CIS card to the SCIS card, the lack of timeliness has proved to be a challenge.

8.1 Minor Accounts Payout Initiative (MAPI)

ISC continues to face difficulties locating clients that have trust accounts they may be unaware of and these unclaimed accounts have further contributed to the increase of Minors Accounts Payout Initiative (MAPI) accounts. ISC staff make every attempt to locate individuals who have trust accounts that have been established by their Nations and can be paid out once the individual reaches the age of majority in their province. Many of the times these individuals are not even aware of the existence of these trust accounts.

Key informants (regional and national office) have shared that there are various reasons that contribute to large number of MAPI accounts including: difficulties in locating clients (approximately 5000 MAPI accounts), ISC may have outdated, incorrect information or no contact information at all for clients, it is also possible that clients may be homeless, transient, incarcerated or deceased.^{Footnote 36} It is important to note that MAPI has assisted well with the service delivery of Indian Moneys. Despite this, there still exists a large number of MAPI accounts. Respondents from ISC regional office and from the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association acknowledged the challenge in finding clients that have been adopted. A concerted, proactive approach for clients being adopted or have been adopted may need to be taken.

In addressing these challenges and minimizing the number of MAPI accounts that exist, ISC offices have implemented different strategies: including outreach, mail-outs to account holders, contacting IRAs, and conducting targeted searches (i.e. via social media). As well, ISC staff often utilize treaty annuity payment events as opportunities to inform individuals that may not be aware of trust funds that exists. National office respondents have reported that as of late, regional offices have begun to ensure that with any new trust accounts that have been created, strong efforts are made to not only inform clients of the existence of their trust account but also when and how they can access them. While there have been concrete advances in terms of locating clients, there is still father to go.

8.2 Management of Trust Moneys

From the evaluative evidence reviewed, including both document review and key informant interviews, there are various mechanisms that First Nations communities can utilize to manage their own trust moneys. First Nations under Section 69 of the Indian Act have full control on how they manage their revenue accounts, and ISC's involvement is limited to processing transactions with an agreed understanding that the moneys will be utilized for the benefit of their people. Regional office respondents have highlighted Section 69 aims to provide First Nations with greater involvement and control over the administration of band moneys. Regional offices did raise concerns that the process for First Nations to transfer to Section 69 can be quite cumbersome and time consuming for communities to actively pursue.

First Nations that are governed under Section 66, experience increased administrative involvement from ISC. Specifically, regional offices require additional information from the First Nation community, including a clear understanding of what the funds will be used for, reviewing supporting documentation and validating that the funds will be used for the betterment for their members. First Nations bands that are under the First Nations Land Management Act (FNLMA), have complete control over both their revenue and capital accounts. Regional office respondents have expressed that First Nations under FNLMA can be viewed as a form of instant devolution since funds are transferred to the community and allow them to build their own trusts, this also allows communities to manage their own resources in a timely manner.

There has also been considerable efforts made from ISC to ensure that the trust fund management system is well linked to the lands management tool, thus providing effective management of these moneys.

8.3 Trust Funds Disbursement

Indian moneys includes both individual and band moneys. Given the evaluative evidence available, implementation of these service offerings is systematic and adhere to the Indian Act closely. There have been two key findings: delays in approving and dispersing both band and individual moneys and challenges in finding clients that are owed individual moneys.

While many regions have shared in key informant interviews that they follow systematic processes and procedures in dispersing funds to clients, one commonality that many regions continue to share is around the timeliness in releasing individual and band moneys. Although there are many reasons that contribute to the delays for accessing capital and revenue moneys, the evaluation identified that there are many approval levels involved, including at times requiring the Ministers signature. This can contribute to clients not receiving funds in a timely manner. While it is relatively easy for bands to access revenue moneys compared to capital moneys, there are still procedural delays that exist. In recognizing the challenges around timeliness for accessing individual and band moneys, staff at the national office have shared that internal organizational charts are currently being updated to better streamline accountabilities and "bring authorities down to more appropriate levels instead of having to go to the Minister for signature".

With regards to individual moneys, regional office key informants have stated that "the process for dispersing (individual) funds can be cumbersome and requires tight planning, especially where people are vulnerable." For example, to demonstrate the process challenges associated in releasing funds, one regional office shared an experience of accessing funds for a client in need of a coat, "…a client is urgently in need of a coat, you have to go through all kinds of legwork to find a new coat…heavier than if we had a bank account in the community and could ensure faster bank account disbursement." Some regional offices have reported that COVID-19 has provided them with an opportunity to respond to these delays and develop agile systems, including collaborating closer with teams in the mail rooms, so that clients can receive and process payments in real time to reduce delays in clients awaiting cheques in the mail to pay for their rent and utilities.

9.1 Access and Participation (On-Reserve Clients)

Key informants including IRAs and ISC staff from both regional and national offices, have indicated that there exists a range of barriers to accessing and fully participating in estate service offerings. Through the evaluation's multiple lines of evidence, two significant barriers that on-reserve clients often face have been identified: accessing information, reaching the right regional office representatives, and digital disadvantage.

From a client-centric perspective, IRAs have noted that navigating the on-reserve estates service and accessing information in a timely manner can often become challenging and frustrating for clients. At times, it can take weeks for clients to find the right regional contact information and to speak with an estates officer with the aim of having their legal queries addressed or supported in completing the proper forms. In the meantime, estates remain in limbo and grieving families are unsure on how to proceed.

Another challenge that clients living on-reserve often face includes digital disadvantages (i.e. bandwidth, access to internet, clients might not have email addresses etc.), which can severally impact their ability to obtain access to and participate in the service offering. While the ISC regional office respondents shared that significant effort was put into ensuring that estates documents are accessible for clients, there continues to be challenges with clients correctly completing documents, ultimately requiring that clients seek additional support from regional office estate officers in properly completing documentation. Key informant interview respondents (both regional and national offices) have recommended that given the heavy legalistic nature of the service offering it would be significantly helpful to translate documents in local Indigenous languages, where applicable to further improve accessibility.

9.2 Human Resource Capacity (Estate file Backlog)

The Estates program lacks a standard approach with regards to human resource (HR) capacity across regional offices. In conducting key informant interviews, the evaluation found that there exist large discrepancies in regional staffing capacities, organizational structures, and roles and responsibilities of estate officers across regions. Staff at the national office have also acknowledged that there is a strong need for standardized HR structures throughout the regions, taking into consideration that some regions may need more staff due to the population size that they support.

Currently, almost all regions are facing a backlog that is not proportional to their current staffing capacity and First Nations population sizes. This means that, estates are often not being addressed in a timely manner. For example, Quebec has reported that they have five full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to address a backlog of 800 open cases. Manitoba faces a backlog of 10,000 files, with only three FTEs to support. These three employees are responsible for the 600 files that come in per year, but only have the capacity to process 400. With the current staffing support of three estate officers, it will be challenging for Manitoba to seriously clear the backlog without further staffing investment.

Unique only to British Columbia is a dedicated estates unit with officers that solely support estates related activities. This is vastly different from all other regional offices. Oftentimes, in many regions that have generalist officers as opposed to specialized officers, their roles and offices are vulnerable to responding to fluctuations in service offering demands (i.e. increase in registration applications due to S-3).

In addressing the backlog that regional offices face and partially alleviating the workload burden, some regions have explored alternative approaches in closing simple files. For example, one regional office implemented a pilot process in 2018 with the aim of closing estate files and reducing its backlog by hiring additional temporary staff to provide support. Tapping into alternative staffing measures could improve services across regional offices.

9.3 Living Estates

Within the estates service offerings, it is widely acknowledged that living estates is a high priority given that it supports individuals who are the most vulnerable and at risk. Despite this, there is concern in the majority of regions from both ISC staff members and external partners regarding the overall management of this service offering.

Some ISC regional offices have expressed that the process for collaborating with Territorial and Public Guardian and Trustees, regarding confirming departmental jurisdiction over dependent adults, can be a time consuming process. As a result, any delays in jurisdictional decision making can potentially have very harmful consequences for the lives of dependent adults and their families. In helping to address the timeliness concerns, it may be beneficial for the Branch to work towards developing a systematic approach with territorial and provincial counterparts with the aim of improving communication between parties and helping to confirm departmental jurisdiction in a timely manner.

Furthermore, enhancing capacity building efforts among estate officers may also potentially support in addressing the estates backlog. Regarding training materials to support ISC staff, a majority of the regional ISC staff informants indicated that the training manual and guidance materials for Living Estates is outdated, lacking in precision, quality, and expressed that they were unaware if a fully translated French manual existed. As a result, they also expressed concern that staff are not being appropriately trained and prepared to fulfil their roles. This is important given the challenging and often complex files that ISC administrators are responsible.

9.4 Decedent Estates

There exists a need to increase capacity among First Nation communities to increase knowledge and awareness regarding decedent estates given that the Department's preference is that a family member or someone of the deceased's choosing (i.e. by will) manage the estates given it is an intimate, private matter.^{Footnote 37}

One factor that is impacting the ability for the effective transfer of assets to the lawful heirs and beneficiaries of eligible deceased individuals is the absence of a legal will upon the death of a status First Nation individual. While actively supporting will writing is external to the Department's responsibilities, it is a factor that is contributing to the increased estates that the Department is currently responsible for and/or may be unaware that they are responsible for.

There also exists communication concerns from the client's perspective as it relates to Decedent estates, that is further contributing to the ineffective transfer of assets to the lawful heirs and beneficiaries of eligible deceased individuals. One respondent, representing a First Nations land management organization highlighted communication challenges, stating that "one problem is information is not forthcoming when you lose a family member … it not easy to access information. Your grief is compounded by fact that it is hard to be aware of what support is included. A lot of families are looking after belongings, etc. at home. There is no openness on that. There is a shortfall in communication."

10.1 Treaty Annuity Payment Modernization

Current treaty annuity payments are in the yearly amount of 4-5 dollars. In 2019, there were just over 601,000 eligible annuitants who were eligible for nearly 3 million dollars in annuities.^{Footnote 38} However, in the 2019-20 fiscal year $845,102 of potential annuities were not collected by annuitants.^{Footnote 39} Given that the current payment amount, many recipients do not return to their home communities to collect owed payments. It is believed that with the potential modernization of annuity funds, the yearly amount paid will increase, leading to an anticipated heightened demand to collect treaty payments, especially for clients living in urban communities. This increased demand will bring with it a few challenges which ISC respondents, both regional and national, identified.

With the potential modernization, there are three main concerns. The first concern is in the physical payment of such large sums of money which could place ISC employees at risk. One regional ISC interviewee noted, "in no other government Department in the world would we send a government employee with a briefcase filled with $50K in cash, advertise it to everyone that we are coming with $50K in cash to pay it out and think that is: a) ok; and b) safe."^{Footnote 40} The second concern is that those who may not have collected annuities in the past, and would now see the benefit, are more likely to be urban or off-reserve clients, for whom annuity accessibility may be more difficult. The third, and perhaps most complex concern is determining who is legally entitled to the annuities. This is a major issue as in some instances community membership lists are not similar, as some are controlled by Canada or by the band. Drawing the line from the treaty signatory and the descendent who has that right is a known issue that may increase in urgency with modernization.

10.2 Treaty Annuity Payment Experience

The treaty annuity payment experience program 2 (TAPE-2) has allowed staff to not only participate in the ceremonial aspect of the service offering, but to also visit communities and interact with local members in a way that has further enriched their Indigenous learning. One of the positive outcomes of the treaty annuity payment experience program is that it enhanced the Government of Canada staff's cultural competencies and awareness of Indigenous cultures. This was unanimously noted in focus groups with TAPE-2 participants. However, most also noted that although they had received adequate training in terms of the historical perspective of annuity payments and their cultural importance, it would have been of benefit to have received additional information, from a practical standpoint, on what to expect and bring when travelling to communities, and operationalizing the payments themselves.

Some TAPE-2 Participants noted that "I was going in blind", "I found the training was short on logistics, I was flying up north, but it was more unclear what is my part, what do I have to bring versus what's provided by the region", "I'm not sure how we could be more prepared, but personally I think there could have been more concrete training or examples of what we were going to do."

11.1 Legislative and Treaty Obligations

Any transfer of Individual Affairs related services to First Nations communities, as both ISC and First Nations respondents noted, is fundamentally complicated by the fact that these services are a statutory obligation under the Indian Act, which implies Ministerial accountability. Under the Indian Act, the Crown has a legislative and/or treaty obligations to First Nations peoples as previously stated in the Relevance Section of this evaluation.

Pursuant to Section 5 of the Indian Act, the Government of Canada is required to maintain an Indian Register, an official record of all peoples registered as Status Indians (both on and off-reserve).^{Footnote 41} With regards to the Estates service offering, the Minister has exclusive jurisdiction over decedent estates, which relates to ensuring that "property of registered individuals, who were resident on reserve before death, is passed on to the rightful heirs"^{Footnote 42}.

Treaty annuity payments are also significant aspects of the relationship between the Government of Canada and First Nations, and ISC Interview respondents, both regional and national, expressed that transferring this service is contrary to the Crown/Treaty recipient exchange. There is some concern among the aforementioned key informants that any transfer of administration to the band may likely exacerbate disagreements on who belongs to which First Nation. There is also a risk that those individuals not recognized by the Band would be left without annuities if transferred or that Canada would be held responsible for a breach of its treaty obligation.

Additionally, there was significant concerns raised by ISC and partners around privacy issues if service transfer leads to Bands or other service-providing entities gaining possession of personal, sensitive information and are not governed by privacy legislation in the same way that the Government of Canada is.

There also exists key legislative pieces that outline the role of the Federal Government and the Minister in relation to band moneys. As a result, "all title to reserve lands rests with the Crown and all moneys derived from reserve land activities are payable to the Crown"^{Footnote 43}.

11.2 Pathways to Eventual Service Devolution

The expansion of the IRA role presents a unique opportunity for service transfer. IRAs are currently the in-community access point for Certificate of Indian Status (CIS) cards and help with registration and Secure Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS) cards applications. IRAs offer a unique, pre-established building block for service transfer, as they are already delivering this service in community. Through both the online survey and focus group discussions, IRAs have highlighted the ways in which the registration and card issuance service offerings can be further transferred to them, including:

• Their is desire to receive further access to the IRS and to be able to administer SCIS cards on-reserve.
• Many IRAs stated that they would like to be able to make amendments in the IRS, like changes related to marriages or divorces.
• The survey also found that 64% of respondents would like to see their role expanded to fully process registration applications.
• Many IRAs felt that they should be able to register births and deaths of their community members with one IRA stating that, "we know our people".
• IRAs are also requesting to be allowed to certify documents, like long form birth certificates, so that the originals would not have to be sent to an ISC office. This would mitigate the risk of these important documents from being lost.
• IRAs also expressed the desire for regional IRA networks to be able to share best practices and ask questions within the larger IRA group.

In addition to potentially supporting registration and card issuance services, there is an opportunity to engage IRAs further on the estates service offering and providing increased in-community level support to on-reserve clients. This would specifically improve clients access to the information and providing increased front-line support to communities. Focusing on strengthening local community capacity (i.e. IRAs), both from a human resources and systems perspective may be a strong potential pathway to devolution.

Expanding the role of IRAs to register simple applications on reserve, certify documents, and potentially provide estates support, would further facilitate First Nations communities ability to perform greater service on-reserve and directly to clients.^{Footnote 44} As such, IRAs present a clear next step in service transfer of registration and card issuance services. However, it is important to note that there are some functions that are not administrative and cannot be fully delegated to IRAs, such as the Registrar's discretionary decision-making abilities.

11.3 Trusted Source Partnerships

Trusted source partnerships^{Footnote 45} allows partners such as regional Indigenous organizations to offer a suite of services around registration and Secure Certificate for Indian Status, especially in urban settings.^{Footnote 46} This change in policy will allow IRAs as trusted sources in their respective communities and ultimately provide increased service to clients on-reserve. As more partnerships are developed, this may also be seen as a pathway to devolution and further self-determination.

12.1 Registration: The Correctional Services Canada Partnership

In June of 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Deputy level between Indigenous Services Canada and Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) to create a national strategy to facilitate intake of SCIS cards by CSC staff. The primary objective of the partnership is for First Nations peoples in federal custody to obtain a SCIS card prior to release from the correctional institution. An ISC respondent explained that one of the leading causes for re-incarceration is not having proper identification.^{Footnote 47} As of July 26th, 2021, 40 institutions in the prairie region (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories) are currently submitting applications for SCIS from correctional institutions. The target is for over 100 institutions to be submitting applications once the program is national.

ISC Respondents noted that the success of the project thus far originated from buy-in from senior management and a process designed to leverage what information CSC already had access to. The process was further streamlined to use the photo from the offender's CSC identification for the registration application. "So really we are only talking about a form now," stated one respondent. The application is submitted electronically, cutting out the mail time and postage costs which would be significant for inmates and a liaison officer in the institution is trained to be a trusted source, eliminating the need for a guarantor. ISC respondents noted that this streamlined process has had great success and could potentially be expanded to other institutions outside of CSC.

12.2 Registration: "The Alberta Model"

Alberta region takes a unique approach to IRA duties and training. Regional respondents emphasized that their team is pushing for more authority to be transferred to IRAs. IRAs in Alberta are granted access to the IRS in a staged approach wherein IRAs are provided read access^{Footnote 48} six months into their position, and once they are comfortable, they receive write access^{Footnote 49} 6 months later. Once they are granted write access, IRAs receive write access training and the Alberta regional office tracks and conducts constant monitoring and compliance on the IRS submissions from IRAs.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alberta region implemented a job shadowing program for new IRAs. Through this program, IRAs would shadow regional office staff in the ISC offices, learning policy and procedure. This program was seen to build the skills and tools needed once they return to their First Nation's Band office. During COVID-19, the region has adapted to continue this one-on-one learning virtually. Virtual training lasts 1-2 months, with one-on-one IRA mentoring on their daily activities continues while they are at the membership desk. After three weeks, the regional staff member is able to continue with their regional activities while addressing any of the IRAs questions from the corner of their screen. This has cut down on travel costs and allowed for strong relationship building between regional staff and IRAs.

The region also conducted a pilot project in which IRAs were considered receiving agents as if they were a part of the Department. This allowed them to collect and validate supporting documents.

12.3 Estates: "Colour Coded Forms"

The Atlantic regional office has implemented an innovative practice whereby legal estate forms are printed on different coloured papers for clients to use. This colour coding system is accompanied by several instruction sheets to better support individuals in successfully completing the required forms. The office has noted that they have found this colour coding system to be particularly beneficial for several reasons: the colour coded system improves accessibility and reduces barriers for clients in completing the "correct" forms; the accompanying instruction sheets further explain what information is required and provides examples of the types of information that is required in each field; and lastly the colour coded system allows the client to have a better understanding of the estates process.

This innovative practice has also been beneficial for IRAs, as the first point of contact for family members that are reporting a death of a registered status Indian. The colour coded process has also assisted IRAs in better supporting clients to complete the correct legal forms. Overall, this implemented procedure has streamlined the estates process and has ensured that the right forms are completed by clients and returned to the Atlantic regional office for processing.

12.4 Treaty Annuities: Manitoba's Online Database System

Manitoba utilizes an online database (live payments) that allows ISC staff to process payments in a timely manner and was identified as a key success as opposed to sorting through several pay list books to process treaty payment. Furthermore, Manitoba hosts treaty payments in their communities using an online database. This process helps to facilitate the timely treaty payment process to status Indians that are entitled to receive payment through membership in bands and that have signed historic treaties with the Crown. Prior to using the online database system, Manitoba regional staff and TAPE-2 participants travelled to communities with several physical pay list books to host treaty annuity payments. In fact, key informants have stated that they would often travel with three different pay books, one book sorted by treaty numbers, another book sorted individuals by surnames, and the third book sorted individuals by their birthdays. This process of sorting through various physical pay list books was cumbersome, especially on individuals receiving payments as it was time consuming. Regional office key informants have acknowledged that at times it could take nearly twenty minutes to process one treaty payment. With this current online system being utilized in Manitoba, regional staff are now able to enter in individual names into the system and populate all their information, allowing them to facilitate a more seamless interaction for individuals entitled to receive treaty payments.