2024-25 Gender-based analysis plus

Purpose

The Public Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program provides First Nations and Inuit communities with flexibility to implement integrated holistic health services. The program also supports the transfer of these health services to First Nations and Inuit. Key activities supported by the program span across five elements: mental wellness, healthy living, healthy child development, communicable disease control and management, and environmental public health. These culturally-informed and community-based services are primarily delivered by Indigenous Peoples. The department provides the funding and technical support for the following:

• Access to mental wellness services to address intergenerational trauma, prevent further trauma, and provide evidence-based interventions. Worsening socio-economic factors in recent years have exacerbated impacts on both mental wellness outcomes and access to services.
• Health promotion and disease prevention programs and services that promote healthy living in all areas including healthy eating and improving access to healthy food, physical activity, commercial tobacco use prevention and cessation, and chronic disease prevention, management and screening.
• Initiatives focused on prenatal and postnatal health, midwifery, nutrition, early literacy and learning, healthy relationships, and emotional and mental health.
• Responses to ongoing communicable disease challenges in communities and among Indigenous Peoples, and;
• Identification and prevention of environmental public health risks that could negatively impact public health in both the natural and built environment through exposure to contaminant-based environmental hazards or the health impacts of climate change. Most of these services are provided by certified Environmental Public Health Officers.

Public Health Promotion & Disease Prevention programs and services positively impact First Nations communities on reserve by advancing the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-being goal of Canada's Gender Results Framework. These programs and services also contribute to advancing the following Sustainable Development Goals:

• ISC's continued support of Nutrition North Canada contributes to SDG 2 – Zero Hunger by ensuring community-based nutrition education activities are available in isolated northern communities to increase knowledge of healthy eating and skill development in selecting and preparing healthy store-bought and traditional or country foods, and to improve healthy food access. ISC continues to work with Inuit partners to advance shared actions and results related to food security outlined in the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee Health and Wellness Work Plan. The Inuit-Crown Food Security Working Group was established in 2019 as a sub-group of the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, which provides a whole-of-government approach to addressing food security by leveraging the contribution of multiple federal departments and agencies as well as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the four regional Inuit Land Claim Organizations, Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, and the National Inuit Youth Council.
• The Mental Wellness Program contributes to SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being by supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis-led approaches to mental health and wellness, promoting Indigenous mental health and well-being, which can supplement and offset the lack of culturally safe and competent, community-grounded components in prioritized mental wellness programs and services offered by Provinces and Territories.
• ISC collaborates with First Nations communities and provides funding for community-based water monitoring in support of SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation. By ensuring technical support and expertise, potential concerns can be identified, and recommendations can be provided to the Chief and Council for action. ISC also assists First Nations in monitoring drinking water quality, providing advice on safety and wastewater disposal, and reviewing infrastructure project proposals from a public health perspective. These measures contribute to understanding drinking water quality issues and their resolution.
• The Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program supports SDG 13 – Climate Action, which is designed to build capacity for climate change and health adaptation by funding First Nations and Inuit communities' efforts to identify, assess, and respond to the health impacts of climate change.

Focus Populations

Funded mental wellness services support Indigenous Peoples of all ages, people who identify as 2SLGBTQI+, people with disabilities, and people experiencing barriers to wellness. Mental wellness services have an impact on all genders, and focus on increasing access to mental wellness services for Indigenous communities.

Health promotion and disease prevention services support all First Nations on reserve and Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat.

The Healthy Child Development suite of programs are focused on the health outcomes of First Nations and Inuit women and pregnant people, parents, young children, and families.

Communicable diseases pose risks for all members of a community; however, intersectional or overlapping health and socio-economic challenges create additional risk factors and barriers for certain populations within communities that elevate their risk related to communicable diseases. GBA Plus analysis and research has indicated that communicable diseases disproportionately impact groups such as women, children, the elderly, 2SLGBTQI+ people, and persons with disabilities, among others.

Environmental Public Health Services impact all First Nations individuals on-reserve south of 60°.

First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program impact all First Nations individuals on-reserve, with a specific focus on youth, Elders and other populations at higher risk of certain exposures; some examples are bottle fed infants, pregnant people, those who eat particular types and sizes of fish, or those going through dialysis.

Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program impacts all First Nations individuals on-reserve, with a specific focus on youth and Elders.

Evidence Collection Plan

For Mental Wellness programming, funding partners design and deliver their community health services to meet their needs and priorities. In an effort to reduce reporting burden on partners, data collection is consistently reviewed and streamlined. With this, data collection on diverse subpopulations is targeted to programs with identified GBA Plus considerations and sufficient capacity. Indigenous-led population surveys (i.e., First Nations Regional Health Survey, Qanuippitaa National Inuit Health survey) as well as the Statistics Canada Indigenous People's Survey are leveraged to support intersectional analysis.

Community-based Healthy Living programs do not directly collect sufficient data to enable monitoring or reporting of impacts by gender and diversity. To support self-determination and eventual transfer of service delivery responsibilities, program reporting requirements are minimal.

Through discussions with partners, there could be potential opportunities to obtain qualitative or narrative GBA Plus-related information, for example, through the Indigenous Community of Practice for Canada's Tobacco Strategy, which is an Indigenous-led knowledge sharing forum that includes participants from a small number of partner communities.

The Healthy Child Development program cluster collects limited age and gender disaggregated data through recipient reporting on prenatal/maternal child health and early childhood development services. This information is particular to pregnant people receiving and participating in services and activities by trimester, parents with babies that are breastfed, and children who have been screened, assessed and diagnosed with special needs.

The Indigenous Early Learning and Childcare Framework is Indigenous-led and allows communities to develop programs that respond to their unique needs. Co-developed results frameworks for Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care, led by Employment and Social Development Canada, and the associated data to be collected by Indigenous partners are anticipated by March 2025. This presents an opportunity for greater data disaggregation as determined by Indigenous partners.

Healthy Children, Youth and Families program also provides secretariat support for the Indigenous Women's Advisory Committee, which provides a valuable platform for the department to seek advice and guidance from organizations representing Indigenous women, 2SLGBTQI+ people, and youth and to ensure that these groups can identify possible negative impacts or barriers to proposed programs, and support the development of policies that are gender inclusive, including advice on preventing racism and discrimination in healthcare, as well as increased messaging and awareness campaigns focused on the topic of sexual and reproductive health care rights, informed consent, midwifery/doula services and other priority areas.

Communicable Disease Control and Management (CDCM) program collects sex-disaggregated data on many nationally notifiable communicable diseases outcomes which enable it to monitor trends and report program impacts by sex. This includes sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection (STBBI) (HIV, hepatitis C, infectious syphilis), tuberculosis, and vaccine preventable diseases (e.g., chronic hepatitis B as well as enteric, zoonotic and vector-borne diseases). In addition, data from the Public Health Agency of Canada, provincial STBBI surveillance systems, Non-Insured Health Benefits administrative data and ISC regional office and Partnership tables are being used to assess the uptake of relevant communicable disease treatments by and/or impacts of communicable disease programs for various diverse groups. The program has received sex-disaggregated data for a number of communicable diseases for 2022, and intends to use 2022 sex-disaggregated counts as the historic reference point to monitor disease burden and programs' impacts over time.

While departmental officials are engaging with First Nations communities and health authorities to develop new data sharing agreements, the department has invested in the development of real-time community-level integrated case management, contact tracing and surveillance data systems for other notifiable communicable diseases. This is anticipated to facilitate age group and sex-disaggregated data analyses to support the inclusion of GBA Plus+ indicators.

Environmental Public Health Services will track the number of Indigenous people and women who are hired following implementation of the Environmental Public Health Recruitment and Retention Strategy, as supported by the Health Human Resources Funding that ends in 2027.

The Food, Environment, Health, and Nutrition of First Nations Children and Youth (FEHNCY) research study incorporates GBA Plus when analyzing collected data (e.g., demographic characteristics, nutrient intake, contaminant exposure across sex and age groups).

Environmental Public Health regional-based services will continue to prioritize inspections and incorporate risk considerations into health assessment based on the populations using the buildings. These risks are continually being reassessed as new information becomes available. Environmental Public Health Services records the purpose of the building (e.g. daycare, school, Elder lodges) providing general age data. Those locations where specific populations may be found such as infants/children, chest feeding individuals and Elders are considered higher risk and prioritized over lower risk locations.

Purpose

The Home and Long-Term Care Program offers ongoing healthcare and social supports for First Nations and Inuit with varying needs associated with decreasing independence, including for persons of all ages with complex care needs, disabilities, and those requiring supports with daily tasks to live independently. In accordance with the department mandate on supporting service transfer and self-determination, ISC's Long-Term Care programs were integrated into one; however, operationally at ISC, supports are offered through two separate programs under two different sectors: Assisted Living (Social Development) and First Nations and Inuit Home and Community Care (FNIHCC: Health). Assisted Living program funds non-medical, social support services (i.e., in-home, group-home and institutional care supports) for eligible individuals with complex care needs, most commonly seniors and individuals living with chronic illnesses and disabilities (mental and physical). The FNIHCC program funding is provided to support the provision of essential health services including client assessments, case management, nursing, personal care, in-home respite, and referrals; data collection; and supportive services such as rehabilitation, in-home palliative care, adult day care, meal programs, and mental health care.

The Assisted Living program which is fully devolved to communities provides non-medical social services (i.e., in-home, group-home, and institutional care supports) and to specifically serve sub-populations of Indigenous people ordinarily resident on reserve or, if in the Yukon, have status under the Indian Act) that have unique needs or experience. For example, seniors make up the majority of those served, but young people with disabilities are also eligible. The program takes steps to ensure that subpopulations are eligible to receive funding and that program elements are suitable and responsive to their needs.

The Home and Long-Term Care Program supports SDG 1 - No Poverty. The Home and Community Care subprogram's high devolvement to communities is viewed as enabling more community-specific approaches to benefit diverse groups, by allowing them to administer safe, high-quality services to anyone with medical need regardless of age or income, in a way that ensures alignment with their own priorities and includes a suite of essential primary care services provided to First Nations and Inuit people of all ages, including vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities and acute or chronic illnesses.

Focus Populations

The home and community health care services are currently provided to First Nations and Inuit residing in their home communities. Funding for assisted living social supports (in-home, group-home and institutional care) are eligible for low-income First Nation seniors and persons with disabilities living on-reserve and in the Yukon who have been formally assessed by a health care professional as requiring services, and who do not have the financial means to obtain such services themselves. The Long-Term and Continuing Care framework aims to help a variety of underserved groups, including women, youth, Elders, 2SLGBTQI+ communities and individuals, persons with disabilities, individuals and families with low-incomes, rural/remote and geographically dispersed individuals, and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.

Evidence Collection

As co-development with Indigenous partners continues to create a new framework that is more responsive to a variety of individuals, including seniors and those with disabilities, consideration of the program's data collection needs will be a key consideration to address with partners and ensure data collection and analysis tools better reflect all sub-populations. As part of these discussions, the program will raise GBA Plus considerations and reiterate the importance of gathering this data. Although the department may not have access to individual level data, recipients may still gather GBA Plus data at the community level to support the implementation of their programming (for example, by a community's remoteness).

While the program's current data set in each of these areas is not optimal, it is expected that the results of the long-term and continuing care engagement will result in significant changes that are likely to occur as early as 2025-26. Both subprograms (Home and Community care and Assisted Living) will be undertaking a full analysis of its data needs as part of engagement efforts.

Purpose

The Primary Health Care Program supports the delivery of and access to high quality, primary health care services to First Nations and Inuit individuals, families, and communities. The Clinical and Client Care services element provides clinical and care services in remote and isolated First Nations communities. The Community Oral Health Services element of the program provides direct oral health services, including dental therapy services to Inuit and First Nations individuals and the Children's Oral Health Initiative. To support the provision of primary health care service delivery, eHealth Infostructure provides funding, advice, and expertise to Indigenous communities and organizations for the delivery of eHealth services and virtual care technologies.

The aim of these services is to improve health outcomes through the provision of in-person and digital health solutions for diagnostic, curative, rehabilitative, supportive, palliative and end-of-life care, referral services and programming. Tools are developed and disseminated to support nurses in their assessment and management of clients, and accompanying educational or training supports through a Learning Management System.

Primary Health Care focuses on all populations living within these communities and supports culturally appropriate community-based programs, services, initiatives, and strategies related to oral health. The range of services includes prevention and health promotion, outreach and home visiting, treatment and referrals. Primary Health Care also collaborates with other professionals within the communities, such as nurses, school teachers, and directors to promote the importance of healthy practices and to approach oral health as integral to holistic health.

Primary Health Care works towards the modernization, transformation, improvement and sustainment of health care services in First Nations communities. It supports and funds a combination of eHealth information, applications, technology and people to help provide First Nations with: optimal health services delivery; optimal health surveillance; effective health reporting, planning and decision making; and integration/compatibility with other health services delivery systems.

Primary Health Care programs and services positively impact the goals of Canada's Gender Results Framework's related to the poverty, reduction, health and well-being pillar.

The eHealth Infostructure Program supports SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure through aiming to improve the efficiency of health care delivery to First Nations individuals, families, and communities through the use of digital health technologies. This facilitates data collection, communication, management, and utilization, and enables front-line care providers to better deliver health services. The eHealth Program supports and enables public health surveillance, health services delivery (primary and community care included), health reporting, planning and decision-making, and integration/compatibility with other health service delivery partners.

Focus Populations

• For health services, First Nations community members in remote and isolated areas.
• For oral health and dental therapy services, all populations living within First Nations and Inuit communities, primarily, children aged 0-6 years, their parents/caregivers and pregnant people.
• ISC nurses and transferred and agency nurses working in remote and isolated Indigenous communities.
• For digital health services, it is anticipated that improving First Nations' capacity, governance and control in these areas will positively impact all First Nations community members in different ways, based on their specific needs and interactions with health care services in Indigenous jurisdictions.

Evidence Collection

A new National Learning Management System is being developed to house the Clinical Care Pathways and provide supplementary training and education to nurses, and will likewise integrate considerations for culturally safe and inclusive care that meets the needs of diverse clients. The new Learning Management System will allow for tracking of the number of nurses who complete various training modules (e.g., topics such as cultural safety, gender-affirming care, and older adult health). The program intends to leverage this system to also collect user feedback from nurses to ensure feedback is received on Clinical Care Pathways and training modules from a variety of lenses, including the degree to which they adequately address GBA Plus issues of relevance to nurses and clients. Piloting is expected to begin in 2026.

Clinical and Client Care and eHealth are collaborating to develop an eHealth "Infostructure," with the objective of improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery to First Nations communities through the use of communications technologies. This information technology project will explore the possibility of aggregate electronic data-sharing arrangements with communities if electronic medical records are in place, and will include a GBA Plus component for aggregate analysis of services provided.

For oral health and dental therapy services, the Community Oral Health Services program collects data on the biological sex of the client and the community to which they belong. The program also collects data on age and geography, which facilitates analysis on differences in utilization of services and oral health outcomes by age and region. This data is used to identify any differences in utilization of services between male and female clients, as well as identify barriers in access to care by community, region, and age group. Community Oral Health Services will also work to collect information from regions to assess the challenges and barriers in access to care and service delivery.

With respect to specific virtual sessions where eHealth services are delivered, there is a shortage of disaggregated data available to measure impacts by sex or gender.

Challenges related to lack of disaggregated data are being addressed with work towards data interoperability with provincial systems. There has also been preliminary work within the department to develop a minimum dataset for programs. eHealth is working collaboratively with Health Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information to identify a minimum dataset of shareable information among Industry, federal, provincial and nation health systems.

The eHealth subprogram does have community-level data that could be used to support community-level application of GBA Plus, which includes data on whether a community stores health information electronically or uses paper records, or whether a community has access to high-speed internet.

Purpose

The Health Systems Support Program develops initiatives that work to transform health systems and move the department and First Nations towards service transfer. This involves supporting Indigenous communities and partners in building capacity for service delivery, by advancing accreditation and the integration of standards for quality and culturally safe services, furthering integration with existent provincial/territorial health systems, supporting community-level health service planning initiatives, and advancing the health governance goals of Indigenous Peoples.

Program elements include Community Health Planning, the Health Services Integration Fund, the Health Transformation initiative, British Columbia Tripartite Health Governance, Accreditation, Health Human Resources, and funding for Indigenous-led health surveys. Examples of these initiatives are:

• Supporting the voluntary accreditation of health services provided at First Nations Community Health Centres and ISC Nursing Stations to achieve accreditation from a recognized accrediting body.
• Providing training to community-based workers and health managers delivering health services in First Nations and Inuit communities through the Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative. Increasing the healthcare delivery workforce in Indigenous communities is an important way to advance health equity, particularly in rural and remote communities where health human resource challenges are greatest. Indigenous communities are currently experiencing disproportionately high critical shortages in health providers, including physicians, nurses, allied health workers, and unregulated health paraprofessionals. Staffing is a critical factor in impacting quality of care in nursing stations, health centres, and in the home environment, with clear links to safety outcomes.
• Administering a contribution agreement as per the commitments in the British Columbia Tripartite Framework Agreement on First Nation Health Governance. Canada has the role of funder and governance partner.

Health Systems Support programs and services contribute to advancing SDG 5 – Gender Equality through ISC's Quality Improvement & Accreditation program, which supports access to culturally safe, high-quality health services for First Nations and Inuit individuals, families and communities, that both meet their needs and evidence-based standards. Advancing accreditation of health organizations increases credibility and partnerships with regional health systems and peers, which can play a pivotal role in mitigating systemic barriers to gender equity by implementing standards that address identified issues.

ISC's continued efforts towards distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation and policy approaches will advance work towards SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, through looking to improve access to high-quality, culturally-relevant, and safe health care for Indigenous Peoples. To this end, regional and national First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Intersectional Partners led numerous engagements within their communities on the vision for distinctions-based Indigenous health legislation. ISC is now reflecting on options that would provide more time and transparency to the Indigenous Health Legislation process and to move forward in a meaningful way, based on partners' readiness and ongoing engagement.

Focus Populations

The component of the program that primarily supports Community Health Centres and nursing stations located in First Nations communities will help to ensure an adequately resourced Indigenous health workforce, along with community-focused measures to improve the quality of primary care and patient and nursing safety. First Nations individuals living on-reserve with health issues will benefit from improved access to high-quality, culturally safe, and patient-centred care.

Investments through accreditation initiatives will result in patient safety, nursing security and pharmacy management in nursing stations for First Nations living in remote and isolated communities and will improve the quality and safety of healthcare service delivery to everyone regardless of gender who will all benefit but in different ways based on their specific needs and interactions with the health care system. Accreditation also builds capacity of First Nations and Inuit organizations by ensuring they meet the same standards and guidelines of their provincial counterparts, while targeting the specific, culturally appropriate needs of the community in which the health facility is located.

Increasing the healthcare delivery workforce in Indigenous communities will improve health equity for First Nations and Inuit, whereas the British Columbia Tripartite Framework Agreement will benefit First Nations in British Columbia, including diverse groups of women, youth, gender-diverse individuals, Elders, persons with disabilities, and people living in remote or isolated communities. The renewed British Columbia First Nations Health Authority Canada Funding Agreement will provide sustainable funding to the First Nations Health Authority for the next 10 years to further address existing disparities and inequities in health care, as well as the continued redesign of health system innovations and the delivery of new or redesigned health and wellness programs. In addition, funding will support the First Nations Health Authority to work with communities, the Province, and the federal government to respond to the social determinants of health over this 10 year period. This work will continue to respond to the First Nations Health Authority's commitment to inclusivity.

Evidence Collection

The Health Systems Supports Program provides funding to Indigenous partners for the development and administration of Indigenous health surveys, and also works with other government organizations, such as Statistics Canada, on Indigenous surveys. The program works with partners to obtain customized results that can support intersectional analysis for programs, which will help provide a clearer picture of what gaps in health outcomes or barriers to service may exist for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people with diverse gender identities and across age groups. The program will continue to liaise with partners to see how their work to capture distinct identities within their surveys can be leveraged to support intersectional analysis of their programming.

The program continues to consult with partners to determine the extent to which survey results may be disaggregated by various factors, such as community remoteness. This is an important factor to use in intersectional analysis of health outcomes for First Nations and Inuit, as remoteness can exacerbate issues around access to health care and Health Human Resources, which in turn impacts health outcomes.

In Fall 2022/Winter 2023, the department launched First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and intersectional co-development tables for advancing Indigenous Health Legislation. At these tables, partners discuss topics including self-determination and equity in the delivery of health services. These tables focus on transforming what was heard through engagement into proposed legislative options and support Indigenous-led approaches to improve health equity.

Policy work is underway to respond to gaps in the current Health Transformation landscape. This includes how Health Transformation can be expanded to include all regions which involves reviewing existing policy barriers that impact negotiations or disincentivize participation from specific regions in Canada. The initiative will map and track progress towards coverage of First Nations communities across regions, building the health governance necessary to support the assumption of full control of federally-administered health services and programs, which will position First Nations to design, deliver, and manage their own health services and programs.

Health Transformation project partners determine which groups they engage with as they develop their Health Transformation vision and health governance models to ensure that they are including the perspectives of diverse groups within their work. The program will collect information on which diverse groups Health Transformation partners are working with and representing in their work of developing health governance structures for their members.

Canada is currently working with the First Nations Health Authority on designing an approach to evaluate the Tripartite Framework Agreement. Partners will be developing Indicators to inform the outcomes of whether First Nations located in British Columbia have improved access to health services and integrated health services, among other outcomes. This includes indicators measuring the extent to which youth, Elders, 2SLGBTQ+ and others have experienced improved access to health services. Partners will collect data from community engagement and document reviews to inform these indicators, from a GBA Plus perspective.

Purpose

Indigenous Services Canada's Non-Insured Health Benefits Program provides over 936,000 registered First Nations and recognized Inuit with coverage for a range of medically necessary health benefits and services not otherwise covered by other public or private plans, such as prescription and over the counter medications, dental and vision care, medical supplies and equipment, mental health counseling, and medical transportation to access medical services not available locally.

The services and benefits provided through the Non-Insured Health Benefit Program advance the Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being (reduced poverty and improved health outcomes) goal of Canada's Gender Results Framework. They also contribute to advancing SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being by providing supplementary health benefits through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program to over 936,000 registered First Nations and recognized Inuit in Canada.

Focus Populations

Coverage under the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program is provided to all registered First Nation and recognized Inuit individuals in Canada (where not otherwise covered under a separate agreement, such as a self-government agreement). The program contains design features to reduce barriers to access and ensure equitable coverage for all eligible clients including people with disabilities, people in rural/remote/isolated communities and the elderly.

Data Collection

Data collected by the program can be disaggregated based on a variety of identity factors including age, gender and Indigenous distinction for analysis and reporting purposes. For example, the third generation of the Health Information and Claims Processing Services system, which came into effect in June 2020, includes "Gender X" data field as a non-binary gender identifier, allowing data to be further disaggregated.

The program will continue to identify and implement evidenced-based interventions which take into consideration, and are designed to address, differential impacts experienced by program clients.

The program will also continue to engage with the Assembly of First Nations and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to enhance client access to health benefits and streamline service delivery to be more responsive to the health needs of clients.

Purpose

Jordan's Principle is a legal obligation ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that responds to the unmet needs of First Nation children, regardless of where they live in Canada. This demand-driven initiative supports families in accessing products, services and supports for First Nation children and youth to help with a wide range of health, social and educational needs. The Inuit Child First Initiative was subsequently established to address unmet needs of Inuit children and ensure they have access to essential government-funded health, social and educations products, services and supports, regardless of where they live in Canada. The Inuit Child First Initiative follows a similar delivery model as Jordan's Principle.

Anti-racism, allyship, and GBA Plus are topics that are included in the Back to Basics training, consistent with Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy. Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative also help to advance SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities by assessing the provision of services and supports through a lens of substantive equality and cultural appropriateness while safeguarding the best interests of the child.

Focus Populations

The targeted populations for Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative are First Nations and Inuit children living in Canada who are under the age of majority in their province or territory of residence.

The initiatives take into consideration distinct community circumstances to ensure First Nations and Inuit children can access the health, social and education products, and services they need, regardless of where they live in Canada. This includes support for the unique needs of 2SLGBTQI+ children and children with disabilities. For example, Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative can help address the barriers to accessibility faced by children with disabilities through funding to access psycho-educational assessments, assistive technology and electronics, and therapeutic services (i.e., occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy), among others. Through these supports, First Nations and Inuit children are provided the means to fully participate in their communities.

While the initiatives are designed primarily for First Nations and Inuit children, they also provide secondary benefits to caregivers, including parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Access to funding for supports like respite care can reduce stress derived from complex caregiving responsibilities and financial burden, and promote overall familial health.

Evidence Collection

Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative currently collects limited data to support the monitoring and reporting on the impacts to First Nations and Inuit children and youth from the lens of gender and identities including any other relevant factors. Data collection is limited to administrative data that is required for the adjudication or decision on a request, and to enable output monitoring and reporting on metrics such as the number of approved requests, the types of approved products, services, and supports, and the funding associated with approved requests. Data is also collected on certain aspects of a child's identity, including gender, age, place of residence, and registration status under the Indian Act/association with a land claim organization. Other demographic variables collected include geographic location (e.g. living on/off reserve) and chronic condition status.

Any potential expansion to data collection, including GBA Plus must be negotiated with the parties to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal complaint. Jordan's Principle is consulting with partners on the potential to expand the gender identity options, and will engage with Indigenous partners to ensure that expanded identities and gender options are respectful, appropriate and culturally sensitive. The Case Management System, training materials and request submission forms used by Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First initiatives will be updated when required to accommodate the broad range of gender identities.

Jordan's Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative have launched the Services Alignment Initiative to identify gaps, overlaps, and opportunities in service delivery across all ISC programs. The goal of this project is to inform the coordination and funding of the department's delivery of programs, services, and supports to Indigenous Peoples, especially children.

Enabling enhanced monitoring or reporting on Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative impacts by other gender identities and diversity will include the following measures:

• Enhancements to existing analytic tools to monitor and report on trends observed from First Nations and Inuit children and youth applicants from a gender and diversity lens and based on meaningful engagement with First Nations and Inuit youth.
• Supporting partnerships with Indigenous organizations that are able to collect data and evaluate trends in applicants among approved and denied requests from the Jordan's Principle or Inuit Child First Initiatives, so as to ensure relevant improvements are made for optimal outcomes across all genders and identities.

Purpose

The Family Violence Prevention Program funds the day-to-day operations of a network of emergency shelters and transitional (second stage) housing to improve the safety and security of Indigenous women, children, families, and 2SLGBTQI+ people across Canada, including in the North and in urban centres. The program also provides funding for community-driven proposals for family violence prevention activities.

The program has two components: operational funding for emergency shelter and transition homes; and proposal-based family violence prevention projects such as education campaigns, training, workshops, and counselling to raise awareness on the issue of family violence. New in 2023-24, the Family Violence Prevention Program added a second funding stream under its Call for Proposals for violence prevention and awareness activities. Under this new stream, selected proponents and potential applications could apply for pre-development funding to assist in moving their selected project forward or in submitting an application through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative.

Safety and Prevention Services programs and services positively impact the Gender-Based Violence and Access to Justice pillar goals of Canada's Gender Results Framework. They also contribute to advancing the following Sustainable Development Goal:

• The Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative supports SDG 5 – Gender Equality by developing and funding shelters and transitional housing for those escaping gender-based violence including Indigenous women and their children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The Initiative will result in a minimum of 38 emergency shelters and 50 transition homes across Canada, including in urban areas and the North. This work supports the distinctions-based programming to safeguard Indigenous women, children and 2SLGBTQI+ people from gender-based violence as outlined in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative funds projects that support holistic Indigenous community safety and well-being initiatives that prioritize and address the safety and well-being of Indigenous women and girls.

Focus Populations

Women, children, families, and 2SLGBTQI+ people across Canada, including First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and urban Indigenous communities, as well as Indigenous organizations.

Evidence Collection

For the Safety and Prevention Services, there are some areas with identified collection plans including the Family Violence Prevention Program.

The Family Violence Prevention Program's Data Collection Instrument was redeveloped to integrate a GBA Plus lens and reflect the program's performance indicators. The document, which was previously specific only to First Nations, now also incorporates a distinctions-based perspective to reflect services for Inuit, Métis, Urban Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ peoples. The program began collecting this data this fiscal year (2023-24) with findings available in Fall 2024, which will further inform the establish narrative and identify needs for subsets of Indigenous groups that have been under represented. The program currently has limited data as it pertains to sub-populations and distinct groups (i.e. are sub-populations and distinct groups accessing shelter and prevention services, what are the service gaps for distinct and sub-populations, etc.)

As part of the funding formula redevelopment, the program will continue to collaborate with Indigenous Partners to further inform the new costing models for emergency shelters and transitional housing. This includes Shelter Directors, Providers of transitional housing, and the National Indigenous Circle Against Family Violence (NICAFV). To further guide this work, a front end communication piece was established by the program in collaboration with the NICAFV and sent to all Shelter Directors during the first phase of the process, outlining the key principals on which the work will be conducted, the questions that will be asked, and timelines associated. As part of the next steps, this piece will be updated to reflect the second phase of the process and capture the new key question specific to transitional housing.

As part of the annual Call for Proposals, the program has provided funding to National Indigenous Organizations and other representative organizations to conduct Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis of their communities in order to identifying critical gaps in violence prevention that must be addressed.

The Pathways to Safer Indigenous Communities subprogram is working to implement a new Data Collection Instrument to streamline reporting that will capture how projects serve various sub-populations. The subprogram is also working to conduct outreach to funded projects to develop deeper understanding of how projects serve diverse communities in a qualitative manner.

Purpose

One of the Government of Canada's priorities is ensuring that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and families stay together, that the children remain connected to their communities and cultures, and that they have access to culturally appropriate supports based on substantive equality and their best interests and needs. The Child and Family Services Program focuses on these priorities by operating two complementary but distinct sub-programs: the First Nations Child and Family Services program, and An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families.

The First Nations Child and Family Services program supports the delivery of culturally appropriate and community-based child and family services for First Nations children and families ordinarily residing on-reserve and in the Yukon. The program funds eligible recipients to deliver prevention and protection services such as child protection, guardianship and support, child maintenance, and care for children and families; First Nations representative services; and post-majority support services for youth and young adults aging out of the child welfare system. In areas where First Nations child and family services agencies do not exist, ISC funds services provided by the provinces and Yukon but does not deliver child and family services.

The Child and Family Services Program also supports the implementation of Indigenous laws under the framework of An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (the Act). The Act provides a pathway for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, groups and Peoples to exercise jurisdiction in relation to child and family services in a way that is culturally appropriate and best meets their self-identified needs. The Act also sets out national principles and minimum standards for the provision of child and family services offered to Indigenous children, youth and families across Canada. The sub-program supports capacity building initiatives, engagement, coordination agreement discussion tables, the implementation of Indigenous child and family services laws, and working with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to support the implementation of the Act.

Focus Populations

• For the First Nations Child and Family Service program: First Nation children, youth, young adults (until 26 years old) and families living on reserve or in the Yukon.
• For An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families initiative: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, groups and Peoples that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
• Considering youth and children are at the centre of these programs and that women and Elders are more often care providers, both sub-programs could have greater direct benefits and impacts on these sub-populations.

Evidence Collection

The Child and Family Services Program continues to work in collaboration with stakeholders to reevaluate data collection for quality, consistency and alignment where possible on broader government initiatives, including Gender-Based Analysis frameworks.

An ISC pilot project "Building What Matters", launched in 2023, partners with Indigenous communities to explore and articulate requirements to create data and information systems that are rooted in culture, tradition, and supports a community's child and family services vision and service delivery model.

The First Nations Child and Family Services Program is designed to ensure the safety and well-being of First Nations children and families ordinarily residing on reserve and in the Yukon. The program's current scope is limited to First Nations, delegated or mandated First Nation Child and Family Services providers, and Provincial and Yukon governments directly involved in providing child and family services.

In an overarching approach across the branch responsible for implementing and reforming the First Nations Child and Family Services program, ISC intends to enhance its understanding and application of gender-based analysis. The ongoing work, coupled with the orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, has significantly improved how solutions impacting diverse subpopulations are identified and implemented.

The Act's implementation is expected to result in better quality of services and outcomes through the advancement of co-developed, distinctions-based, multi-jurisdictional data strategies and approaches that respect Indigenous data sovereignty. ISC continues to support data capacity among Indigenous governing bodies and, collaboration with partners will occur in the form of capacity building, pilot projects, and knowledge-exchange events, coordination agreement discussions and resource sharing.

The department is also working on a new Information and Data Management solution to support decision making. This solution will incorporate dashboarding, portal features, and other automated processes tailored to the needs of the Child and Family Services Reform sector.

Purpose

The Income Assistance program is targeted to First Nation individuals and families living on reserve, and Status Indians in Yukon, who do not have sufficient funds to meet their essential needs. In general, Income Assistance clients have little to no income, have low educational attainment, and are at greater risk of having a disability or chronic illness compared to the overall Canadian population.

Income Assistance programs and services positively impact Gender Results Framework goals of Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-being; Education and Skills Development; and Economic Participation and Prosperity. They also contribute to advancing SDG 1 – No Poverty through eligible low-income individuals and families living on reserve and Status First Nations in Yukon receiving support through the Income Assistance program as a last resort where all other sources of funds have been exhausted. The program provides funds for First Nations to cover the essential living expenses of eligible individuals and their families (i.e., those ordinarily resident on reserve or status Indians who live in Yukon).

Focus Populations

Grants and contributions to eligible recipients under Income Assistance are intended to provide financial assistance to First Nations low-income on-reserve residents living in poverty to support their essential living expenses and to eliminate barriers of access to education and employment opportunities in alignment with the rate schedule and eligibility criteria of the reference province or territory. Income Assistance is delivered in all provinces, and the Yukon (Nunavut and the Northwest Territories deliver their own income assistance programs). As noted, Income Assistance clients have little to no income, have low educational attainment, and are at greater risk of having a disability or chronic illness compared to the average Canadian.

Evidence Collection

The Income Assistance directorate has been working with First Nation partners on how to reform the program so that it better meets the needs of low-income First Nation individuals living in poverty and their families, which would help to address gaps impacting diverse subpopulations of First Nations.

A First Nations-led engagement process was undertaken in 2018-2019 to better understand how to make the Income Assistance program more responsive to the needs of individuals and families and to identify the supports required to help individuals better transition from Income Assistance to employment and education. From discussions, various recommendations were made by First Nation communities and organizations, which included:

1. working with First Nations to ensure equitable services for on-reserve Indigenous People;
2. creating Income Assistance rates that are determined by the needs of clients and their cost of living which could help to ensure more equitable impacts by regional/geographical consideration;
3. increased access to case management and pre-employment supports;
4. funding for capacity building (increased funding for service delivery, staff salary and training, and streamlining of reporting);
5. the need for disability income programming; and
6. greater flexibility and local control over the design and delivery of the Income Assistance program to ensure culturally appropriate approaches.

Following the engagement, the Income Assistance directorate has been working with the Assembly of First Nations and other First Nation partners to make the program more responsive to the needs of First Nation clients and dependents of all genders who are living in poverty and who have varied identities and experiences, such as disabilities, living in remote communities, and low employment levels or opportunities.

Purpose

The Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP) Program provides financial support to front-line Indigenous organizations (e.g. Friendship Centres) to deliver culturally appropriate programs and services to Indigenous Peoples in urban centres, including to the most vulnerable and at risk urban Indigenous populations (women, girls, youth, seniors, persons with additions, persons with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQI+ people). Funding is provided to partners through six program streams: organizational capacity, programs and services, coalitions, research and innovation, infrastructure, and housing.

Programs and services delivered by UPIP-funded organizations positively impact the goals of Canada's Gender Results Framework; however, the program more intentionally responds to other frameworks, such as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for Justice (PDF) and Calls for Miskotahâ (PDF).

The UPIP program also supports SDG 1 - No Poverty, by supporting the socio-economic well-being of urban Indigenous population and providing financial support to a wide range of urban Indigenous organizations offering culturally appropriate programs and services that support the aforementioned vulnerable and at risk urban Indigenous populations.

Focus Populations

UPIP assists First Nations (status and non-status), Inuit and Métis Peoples by supporting a wide-range of urban Indigenous service delivery organizations that provide safe spaces for culturally-appropriate programs and services, and that focus on six key areas: women, vulnerable populations (including youth, women and girls, the 2SLGBTQI+ community, seniors, unhoused individuals, those with physical and mental disabilities, and those escaping gender-based violence), youth, transition services, outreach programs, and community wellness.

Evidence Collection

UPIP recognizes that quantifiable data is a key component to developing policy strategies and allows for a stable baseline of communication between jurisdictions and all levels of government.

Part of UPIP's ongoing re-evaluation for performance measures is to work towards a framework that reflects Indigenous values while also being structured to ensure UPIP is able to collect quantifiable data. By co-developing an Indigenous-led performance framework with key partners, UPIP is committing to understanding and reflecting the values of Indigenous Peoples living in urban centres and contextualizing data for ISC purposes.

In 2024-25, UPIP is planning to co-develop its data collection tool as an extension of the co-development work on the program performance framework. The culmination of this work will be a framework and reporting tool that will facilitate understanding and reflect the values of Indigenous Peoples living in urban centres effectively. This will also allow the program to contextualize data for departmental reporting purposes.

Purpose

The Elementary and Secondary Education Program funds elementary and secondary education for First Nations K-12 students ordinarily resident on reserve.

The Elementary and Secondary Education programs and services may contribute to reduced gender gaps in reading and numeracy skills among Indigenous youth, responding to the Education and Skills Development pillar of Canada's Gender Results Framework.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Program also supports SDG 4 – Quality Education. In April 2019, Canada launched a new policy and funding approach that was co-developed with First Nations partners. This approach supports elementary and secondary school education for students ordinarily resident on reserve with funding that is comparable to funding in provincial education systems, plus additional funding for language and culture, full-day kindergarten for children aged 4 and 5 and before- and after-school programming, and adult education.

Focus Populations

Eligible First Nations students ordinarily resident on reserve aged 4 and above on December 31 of the school year.

First Nations students ordinarily resident on reserve with special education needs.

Evidence Collection

In the spirit of First Nations' control over First Nations education, ISC will continue to work with First Nations partners to reduce the reporting burden while ensuring that the department receives information and data from partners in order to better inform education policy design and funding requests.

Through the Education Information System, the department measures performance indicators related to GBA Plus to inform ongoing program design considerations. The collection of indicator data provides insight into intersecting factors such as the provision of culturally and linguistically relevant programming and education attainment of diverse First Nations population groups, disaggregated by age, gender, and region.

The Education Reports and Analysis Solution provides the ability to report on data, by student gender, through funding recipient reporting.

Using these systems, the department can also collect and measure activities undertaken and results achieved through the First Nations elementary and secondary education program, including: graduation rate, special education assessments and learning plans, and literacy and numeracy results.

Purpose

The Post-Secondary Education Program provides post-secondary education (PSE) funding to increase access to and enable success in PSE for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation students through three distinctions-based PSE Strategies. It also provides targeted funding to support First Nations post-secondary institutions, via the Post-Secondary Partnerships Program, which supports First Nations-led partnerships with post-secondary institutions to increase the availability of PSE programs tailored to their cultural and educational needs. In addition, through the First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy, First Nations and Inuit youth are provided with work experience, information about career options, and opportunities to develop skills to help gain employment and develop careers.

The Post-Secondary Education programs and services positively impact the Education and Skills Development pillar of Canada's Gender Results Framework. They also contribute to advancing SDG 4 – Quality Education. Post-secondary student success is a key element in closing the socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and improving capacity in Indigenous communities to support and administer their economic, infrastructure and environmental needs.

Focus Populations

First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation recipients and communities, including youth and students. The First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation PSE Strategies include living and travel expenses for dependents, as well as child care, as eligible student expenses.

Evidence Collection

The Post-Secondary Education Program collects data for each of the three distinctions-based Post-Secondary Education Strategies, as well as the First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy. Through the Education Information System, the department measures performance indicators related to GBA Plus to inform ongoing program design considerations. The collection of indicator data provides insight into intersecting factors such as the provision of culturally and linguistically relevant programming and education attainment of diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation population groups, disaggregated by age, gender, and region.

The Education Reports and Analysis Solution provides the ability to report on data, by student gender, through funding recipient reporting.

Using these systems, the department has the ability to collect and measure the activities undertaken and results achieved through the respective First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation Post-Secondary Education Strategies, including: the number of students (by gender) who receive funding and the number of funded students who graduate with a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree. Additionally, modifications have been made to the data collection instrument for First Nations and Inuit Youth Employment Strategy to not only streamline reporting, but to also include indicators such as gender, disability, remote region, and self-identification as 2SLGBTQI+.

Purpose

ISC provides funding to Community Infrastructure programs which assist First Nations to build and maintain housing, develop federal and band operated education facilities, provide safe drinking water, enhance the development and delivery of health programs and services, and fund other community infrastructure projects on reserve. The goal is to improve the quality of life and the environment for First Nation communities. This helps improve and increase public infrastructure located on reserves, on Crown land and on land set aside for the use and benefit of a First Nation. These initiatives support poverty reduction, health, and well-being by improving First Nations and Inuit governance and control over services.

This program aligns with ISC's Gender Results Framework goal of Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being by providing funding for health infrastructure to meet community identified health needs and facilitate service provision, which may improve health outcomes. In addition, health infrastructure projects funded through the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund directly contribute towards the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Horizontal Initiative framework, part of the MMIWG Federal Pathway. These projects support systemic change to address the crisis of MMIWG and support 2SLGBTQI+ Indigenous people.

This program also contributes to various Sustainable Development Goals such as:

• SDG 4 – Quality Education through investing in education facilities in First Nation communities through the Capital Facilities Maintenance Program. This includes new constructions as well as additions, renovations and major repairs to existing schools in First Nation communities.
• SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation by supporting First Nations-led engagement processes, co-developing long-term strategies for sustainable drinking water and wastewater, and investing in water and wastewater assets, including their operation and maintenance. Ongoing support is provided to First Nations to lift all long-term drinking water advisories affecting on reserve public First Nations drinking water systems financially supported by ISC. The department is also supporting First Nations and First Nations-led organizations to assume control of infrastructure service delivery which will strengthen local and regional capacity for water and sanitation management and contribute to the goal of safe and clean water for all Canadians.
• SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy by supporting projects to facilitate First Nations to transition from diesel to clean energy. These projects aim to reduce the community's use of diesel for heat and power so that a greater proportion of their energy consumption comes from non-fossil fuel sources.
• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure through collaborations with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on the Universal Broadband Fund and investing in connectivity projects in First Nations communities through the First Nation Infrastructure Fund.
• SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 13 – Climate Action using funding in the amount of $287.1 million to address the critical need for safe and affordable urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing projects. In recognition of the need for immediate action, the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated will deliver this funding through a proposal process for infrastructure projects that address immediate and unmet housing needs of Indigenous Peoples in northern, urban and rural communities.

Focus Populations

All members of First Nations communities, including:

• Women and girls
• Men
• 2SLGBTQI+ people
• Children/ youth
• Elders
• Pregnant people
• Persons with disabilities
• Persons with chronic illnesses
• Single parents
• Persons who are displaced

Evidence Collection

The Community Infrastructure Program continues to work toward identifying fulsome data collection plans in all areas, including Housing Facilities, Education Facilities, Health Facilities, Other Community Infrastructure and Activities, and Water and Wastewater.

As per the Program's authorities and objective, ISC does not directly collect sex or gender-disaggregated data to analyze and assess the immediate gender impacts of ISC infrastructure investments. As a result, it is difficult to predict the differential impacts this program could have on Indigenous women, men, Elders, youth, single parents, people with disabilities or 2SLGBTQI+ people because each community develops their infrastructure plan according to their needs and priorities.

For Housing Facilities, ISC and its federal partners support and engage with Indigenous organizations to collect data on diverse sub-populations to understand the barriers they face, identify program and service gaps, and co-develop solutions to address them. In the case of First Nations on-reserve housing, this data may help to support First Nations decision-making with respect to the needs of various populations.

The Health Facilities Program has been enhancing its pre-capital planning process. The program has begun to engage with First Nation recipients more directly on the expected outcomes associated with new health infrastructure projects, including how infrastructure improvements are expected to address current health service needs. This will allow the Health Facilities Program and First Nation recipients to better identify potential GBA Plus considerations related to health infrastructure projects, and which relevant data could be collected by First Nations to track performance.

To provide a stronger analysis base, pending further review with partners, the following avenues are planned to be collected and analyzed for the purpose of reporting:

1. Information on physical accessibility in current health infrastructure through consultations with the ISC regions who deliver the Health Facilities Program and First Nation recipients/ partners.
2. Information on new, replacement, or expansion health infrastructure projects that included local content clauses in contracting.

Continued research and discussion will be needed to ensure a stronger approach to information gathering as an ongoing process. Discussions and training, with assistance from the dedicated ISC GBA Plus team, will be leveraged to better understand avenues where information can be gathered while not heavily impacting recipient's reporting burdens.

Although access to clean water and properly treated wastewater affects all members of a community on reserve, the Water and Wastewater Program does not and cannot collect gender-disaggregated user-level data as part of its water and wastewater programming. However, the department has partnered with a number of First Nations partners as well as non-profit organizations to better engage underrepresented groups in the field of water operations, as the field of water operations tends to be predominately male (both on and off reserve).

The Community Infrastructure Program is working with ISC's GBA Plus Responsibility Centre and a GBA Plus consultant to gain capacity and better understand how GBA Plus could be applied to infrastructure programs in the future. This work includes analyzing current practices and identifying ways to better integrate GBA Plus and data collection into the infrastructure programs' planning processes and procedures. The program is actively receiving guidance from the Responsibility Centre.

Purpose

This program works with First Nation communities to develop innovative policy, process and systems improvements to increase the reserve land base and support sustainable management of land, environment and natural resources. These improvements will help leverage community and economic development opportunities thereby facilitating greater First Nation independence and self-determination in managing and taking on jurisdiction over these assets.

This program supports ISC's Gender Results Framework goal of Gender Equality Around the World by providing an opportunity for professional land management training via Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program's Professional Land Management Certification Program. The National Aboriginal Lands Management Association, the service delivery partner for the Reserve Lands and Environment Management Program, reports roughly 60% of successful certifications as being awarded to individuals identifying as women.

This program also aligns with various Sustainable Development goals such as:

• SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy by reducing diesel reliance and dependence in communities. As part of the Wah-ila-toos initiative, ISC is working with Natural Resources Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to reduce dependence on diesel-powered electricity on reserve. Doing so will contribute to the sustainable management of communities and help to address challenges such as public health and safety concerns, environmental impacts (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, contaminated sites), system blackouts, and load restrictions, resulting in the inability to keep pace with community growth and infrastructure needs (i.e. schools, housing, water).
• SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure through the Land Use Planning Initiative, ISC supports First Nations communities in building capacity for effective land management, including the development and implementation of a land use plan that defines a clear vision for the community based on their priorities and strategies for the use and development of their lands and resources in accordance with their aspirations, needs and interests.
• SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities through additions to reserves. Additions to Reserve also allow First Nations to leverage their lands to attract investment, create employment and generate own source revenue.
• SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production through the Contaminated Sites on Reserve Program. The program works directly with First Nations communities to assess and remediate contaminated sites for which a Crown liability has been established and documented. The program reduces environmental impacts, makes previously unusable land available for community or economic development, and provides economic benefits and opportunities for First Nations. ISC also works to support First Nation communities to clean up, decommission and close waste sites and existing assets. This enables sustainable management of land and the environment and allows the land to be utilized for future solid waste management systems or other land uses. Improved solid waste management helps protect the environment, safeguard human health and safety, and improves land management in communities. The First Nations Waste Management Initiative supports communities to undertake new waste diversion programs like recycling and composting.
• SDG 16 – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions through the review of physical activities and works occurring on reserve lands. This ensures environmental law requirements are met and address community needs. When potential adverse effects are identified, the Environmental Review Process ensures that appropriate mitigation measures and best management practices are considered in order to eliminate or reduce impacts on lands, waters, and communities. Engaging Indigenous communities in these processes further supports this goal in a meaningful way.

Focus Populations

First Nations community members including:

• Bands/Settlements and Communities, District Councils / Chief Councils, Tribal Councils, First Nations Organizations and Associations;
• First Nation women; and
• First Nation businesses and organizations.

Evidence Collection

The Communities and The Environment Program does not currently have a GBA Plus data collection plan for the Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Management sub-program.

The current reporting relationship within the Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program with partnering organizations does not stipulate the collection of disaggregated data as a requirement; therefore, ISC currently has a limited ability to collect descriptive data due to the administrative burden on communities and partners and ISC's wish to respect communities' self-determination.

All sub-programs are exploring opportunities, alongside partnering organizations, to collect descriptive data to evidence programming impacts across various demographic subpopulations.

The sub-program will continue to look for opportunities to work collaboratively towards collection of GBA Plus relevant data where appropriate and where First Nation partners are interested in collaborating on GBA Plus objectives. For example, the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre continues to study land code implementation and the impacts of First Nation Land Management, which highlight various intersectionality factors that will inform their proposals. ISC will meet with the National Aboriginal Land Managers Association to discuss options for GBA Plus data collection. The Contaminated Sites On-Reserve Program currently collects some disaggregated GBA Plus data annually though the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan performance indicators. However, the collected data is not sufficient to enable the program to monitor and report on impacts based on gender and diversity. This limitation mainly arises from the fact that ISC is not the primary service provider, and the responsibility for managing contaminated sites projects lies directly with the First Nation. Acknowledging the limited administrative capacities within First Nations, the collection of GBA Plus data becomes particularly challenging for the program. The First Nations Waste Management Initiative is currently developing GBA Plus guidelines for application to program development, delivery and implementation, as well as indicators to best capture the impact of applying GBA Plus guidelines on the Initiative.

Discussions will continue to take place to look into this area on a go-forward basis. Where clear barriers to participation in sub-programs have been present, improvements have been, or are being, undertaken. The expansion of the Professional Land Management Certification Program to be inclusive of the needs of French speaking land management students is an example of such an improvement.

Purpose

This program collaborates with First Nation communities to provide emergency assistance services to on-reserve and eligible First Nation communities. The Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP) supports communities to be prepared for and respond to emergency events, including public health emergencies and climate change impacts by supporting mitigation and preparedness activities, funding immediate emergency response, assisting during the response and recovery phases, and engaging in resiliency-building within communities following an emergency event. This program is designed to be flexible, culturally sensitive and responsive to the unique needs of First Nation communities, and thus works to remove barriers of access and potential negative impacts for those served by the program.

This program aligns with the Gender Results Framework goal of Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being and also contributes to SDG 13 – Climate Action. By recognizing and addressing the unique needs of the First Nation communities, EMAP helps build their capacity to adapt and cope with the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. EMAP is designed to be adaptive to the evolving challenges resulting from emergency events, including those intensified by climate change.

Focus Populations

• On-reserve First Nation communities and individuals
• Women, especially pregnant people and lone parents or caregivers (predominantly mothers)
• Children and youth
• 2SLGBTQI+ individuals
• The elderly
• Persons with disabilities or chronic illnesses

Evidence Collection

EMAP does not currently collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor or report on impacts based on gender or diversity. This is partly due to the fact that ISC is often not the primary service provider for First Nation communities and funds other government jurisdictions and third party service providers to provide direct emergency management services. The program is committed to work in partnership with First Nations and emergency management partners to establish comprehensive emergency management service agreements that will define monitoring and reporting components to identify and address shortcomings for continuous improvement. The program is also committed to learn from after-action reports, documents or studies produced by emergency management partners and/or experts and scholars that can inform best practices in addressing GBA Plus considerations as it relates to emergency management and evacuations. Regional offices work closely with communities to learn from their experiences and collect qualitative and quantitative information to inform future practices. Some regional offices conduct exercises to asses how certain sub-populations, such as women and children, may experience an emergency event to better inform their emergency management responses. Lessons learned are used by both regional and national offices to understand gaps in services for disproportionally impacted communities, which can then be reflected in future service arrangements.

Purpose

The Economic Development Capacity & Readiness Program provides support and funding to First Nation and Inuit communities to assist with enhancing the economic development, land and environmental capacity of communities and to support the establishment of the conditions for economic development to occur, increasing their participation in the economy. The Strategic Partnerships Initiative works to increase Indigenous participation in large, complex, multi-year economic opportunities in key sectors of the economy. It provides federal partners with a way to coordinate efforts, pool resources, close funding gaps, leverage funding from other partners, reduce administrative and reporting burden for recipients, and provides a "navigator" service to Indigenous entrepreneurs seeking funding for opportunities ineligible for ISC's economic development programs.

The Economic Development and Capacity Readiness Program includes Indian Oil and Gas Canada, whose mandate is to fulfill the Crown's fiduciary and statutory obligations related to the management of oil and gas resources on First Nation lands and to further First Nation initiatives to manage and control their oil and resources such as governance. Indian Oil and Gas Canada enables Indigenous communities to achieve greater self-reliance and economic prosperity by advancing First Nation Assertion of Jurisdiction and by leveraging the development of on-reserve oil and gas resources for the economic benefit of the First Nation community.

The Community Opportunity Readiness Program addresses the financial needs of Indigenous communities when they are in pursuit of, and wish to participate in, an economic opportunity. The program is a consolidation of the former community economic opportunities program, the major projects investment fund, and the community-based components of the Indigenous business development program.

The purpose of the Economic Reconciliation initiative is to advance economic reconciliation through the co-development of a policy framework with Indigenous partners. Such a framework will support policy coherence and help move complex government systems toward goals of advancing economic reconciliation. This process will respond to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act commitments and be delivered through an Indigenous-led co-development process and will result in concrete policy proposals for decision makers to consider.

This program aligns with ISC's Gender Results Framework goal of Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being by minimizing the number of individuals living in poverty. It also contributes to SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities by reviewing physical activities and workings occurring on reserve lands, thereby ensuring environmental law requirements are met and address community needs. When potential adverse effects are identified, the Environmental Review Process ensures that appropriate mitigation measures and best management practices are considered in order to eliminate or reduce impacts on lands, waters, and communities.

Focus Populations

First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities including women, Elders, youth, and individuals whose lifestyle is sustained by the land (i.e. hunters, fishers).

Evidence Collection

The Community Economic Development Program does not currently have GBA Plus data collection plans in all areas, including Economic Development Capacity and Readiness, Indian Oil and Gas Canada and Economic Reconciliation.

The Strategic Partnerships Initiative within the Economic Development Capacity and Readiness Program, collects a limited amount of data, in an effort to reduce the administrative burden on communities. However, the Initiative is currently looking at ways to improve data collection, including through the introduction of new indicators (such as jobs created). In order to address potential barriers for participation in economic opportunities, SPI initiatives will now need to complete a GBA Plus as part of SPI's approval process. This additional proposal requirement will ensure initiatives identify barriers, concerns and risks at the conception stage and build in appropriate mitigations throughout its lifecycle. While sub-program activities include the collection of sufficient data on diversity (the number of First Nation and Inuit communities accessing the funding), the impacts of the funding of community-owned businesses on sub-populations of communities is not available.

Indian Oil and Gas Canada's role does not provide the opportunity to collect sufficient data to enable monitoring and reporting of potential project impacts on gender or other identity factors, such as age, sexuality, income level or socio-economic status; however, this will be considered and developed in association with the planned regulatory changes.

Economic Reconciliation plans to pursue a supporting research agenda to improve the quality and completeness of evidence that will inform policy decisions. Furthermore, units elsewhere in the department are conducting analysis of economic data which may directly support this initiative. Finally, the subprogram plans to explore Indigenous-led policy development, which presents the opportunity for government to consider new sources of evidence and to rely on expertise not commonly used in government decision making.

Purpose

The Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development Program supports Indigenous economic development and innovation, as well as reduces socio-economic gaps between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous people with co-developed and distinctions-based policies and programs. It achieves this by:

• Enhancing access to capital for Indigenous businesses in Canada;
• Supporting activities to establish, expand and diversify the network of Indigenous-owned and controlled financial institutions providing developmental capital in Canada, which are functionally complementary to the mainstream financial sector;
• Enhancing the capacity of Indigenous financial and business development organizations to provide financial services, business information, and developmental support services;
• Providing funding to First Nation, Inuit, and Métis recipients to support Indigenous-led engagement, research, and capacity building activities as part of the Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy; and
• Facilitating and supporting the implementation and reporting of the mandatory minimum of the 5% Indigenous procurement target through the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, Indigenous Business Directory and Indigenous procurement planning letters/templates.

This program aligns with the Gender Results Frameworks goals of Economic Participation and Prosperity and Poverty Reduction, Health and Well-Being. Additionally, this initiative contributes to SDG 5 – Gender Equality through funding the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association's Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative. The Indigenous Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative was funded based on feedback from partners and the funding is sunsetting in 2023-2024. The initiative supports Indigenous women in various stages of engagement with entrepreneurship and invests in their skills, employment, and leadership to address the barriers Indigenous women entrepreneurs face. The initiative also provides anti-bias training to Indigenous Financial Institutions and business support officers to ensure the services and environment are inclusive and supportive of Indigenous women entrepreneurs. The aim is to increase Indigenous women's participation in entrepreneurship and their financial independence.

Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development also contributes to SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth by actively supporting the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program, which seeks to increase the number of viable businesses in Canada owned and controlled by Indigenous people. The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program funds a broad range of entrepreneurial pursuits and aims to build capacity, reduce barriers, and increase access to capital through strategic partnerships that will enhance economic opportunities for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people.

The program further aims to contribute towards SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities. Indigenous populations across the country have faced historical and ongoing challenges that contributed to gaps in socio-economic indicators between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. Economic development plays a crucial role in influencing the social determinants of health including income, health and healthcare, education, and social supports. Thus, the Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development Program contributes to efforts to reduce these inequalities by supporting Indigenous partners in addressing barriers and increasing economic supports, which ultimately lead to improved socio-economic indicators.

Focus Populations

Overall, the program impacts First Nations, Inuit and Métis, small and medium-sized businesses including businesses owned by Indigenous men, women and youth.

With respect to the development of a Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy, there is mostly anecdotal evidence to suggest that there are additional barriers for Indigenous women to participate in federal government contracting. However, because the Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy is designed to address barriers for Indigenous businesses as a whole, no comprehensive data is currently available to confirm these preliminary assumptions.

Evidence Collection

For the Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development Program, there are some areas with identified collection plans; however, there are others that still require work to identify a data collection plan including the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program and Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy.

For Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Business Development Program data is collected by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and Métis Capital Corporations based on mutually decided upon indicators. ISC works with partners to identify and co-develop indicators while respecting the needs and priorities of each partner.

There are also plans to work with the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to address the priorities of Inuit-led Indigenous Financial Institutions which may likely lead to developing Inuit-specific indicators.

ISC will continue to work with partners to co-develop more nuanced, expansive and effective indicators and measures for the collection of data based on sex, gender and other intersecting identity factors, such as age (youth and seniors), and rural or remote populations. This will support a responsive approach to the needs of Indigenous individuals and businesses in the future.

The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program does not hold distinctions-based or other disaggregated data, but can determine the general scope of projects that might address specific needs across identity characteristics. Due to this lack of disaggregated data, the program faces some barriers to effectively applying GBA Plus.

The subprogram is exploring opportunities to collaborate with internal and external partners to expand and employ GBA Plus to their data collection, and sustainable targeted approaches meeting the needs of diverse groups while respecting the needs and priorities of each partner.

Finally, as part of co-development activities to discuss options on what a Transformative Indigenous Procurement Strategy could look like, ISC, with key Indigenous partners, will explore the potential for transferring its responsibilities in the area of procurement to an Indigenous-led organization(s). A national Indigenous-led organization(s) could provide wrap around services and programs for Indigenous Peoples and businesses; including the promotion of Indigenous procurement (e.g. reporting, policy reviews); relationship building; capacity building and educational activities (e.g. Indigenous procurement training services) and the management of a national directory of certified Indigenous businesses (with new business definitions and assessment factors).

As part of the Transformative Indigenous Procurement Policy development process, ISC intends to explore the collection of disaggregated data, including by distinction (First Nation/Inuit/Métis) and geography. This may also include data on Indigenous businesses owned by youth, women, and 2SLGBTQI+. As ISC continues to develop an engagement tracking methodology and data strategy, it will seek to incorporate specific recommendations from diverse Indigenous businesses, where possible, distinction-based organizations, and businesses owned by youth, women and 2SLGBTQI+.

Purpose

The Indigenous Governance and Capacity sub-programs support core governance operations for First Nation governments, governance capacity building for First Nation governments and Inuit communities, as well as community development capacity for First Nations, in support of self-determination and the pathway toward the legislated transfer of responsibilities. It does this through addressing inequities in legislation and policies, and providing First Nations with predictable and flexible funding, and the autonomy to design and deliver services.

This program continues to contribute to SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities by advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and taking action to address inequalities. In working to achieve reconciliation, ISC provides funding for core operations of First Nation governments and supporting governance capacity building initiatives. Planned reforms will look to ensure that these programs provide First Nation governments with sufficient, predictable and flexible funding to hire and retain the appropriate financial and administrative staff to support good governance, plan for the future, and advance their visions of self-determination.

Focus Populations

• First Nations communities and the populations they serve/represent
• Inuit communities and the populations they serve/represent
• Métis Nations and the populations they serve/represent
• Indigenous communities and/or individuals on reserve, or in urban, rural, remote/isolated, Inuit Nunangat, and Northern regions

The Indigenous Governance and Capacity Program provides supports for Indigenous governments. Impacted groups include First Nation and Inuit communities and the populations they serve/represent. Individuals that hold elected and administrative governance positions in communities are likely to be most impacted.

The Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data supports First Nations (on- and off-reserve), Inuit, and Métis Nations with suitable age group, gender and geographic disaggregation. Disaggregated data and Indigenous-led, distinctions-based approaches are key to GBA Plus, where the "plus" acknowledges all individuals have multiple identity factors like race, ethnicity, age, etc., which intersect to shape their outcomes and lived experiences. Indigenous Peoples have called for the Government of Canada to support Indigenous data sovereignty and to improve the visibility of Indigenous Peoples in Canada's national statistics by producing data that are culturally relevant and robust enough to be broken down along multiple (intersectional) lines.

The New Fiscal Relationship Grant benefits citizens (inclusive of gender, age, disability, sexuality and other identity factors) of all First Nations who have already moved or will move to the Grant, by providing First Nation governments the flexibility to invest in and plan for services in a manner that reflects community priorities.

Election and governance frameworks support all First Nation communities that are defined as "bands" pursuant to the Indian Act and not operating within a self-government agreement. Specific considerations are provided to off-reserve members to ensure that they are able to participate in leadership selection processes.

Evidence Collection

For the Governance Program, there are some areas with identified GBA Plus evidence collection plans, including Individual Affairs. Some program areas are in the process of developing evidence plans and methodologies, including Indigenous Governance and Capacity, New Fiscal Relationship, the Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data. Others, such as Statutory, Legislative and Policy Support to First Nations Governance still need to identify GBA Plus evidence collection plans.

The Individual Affairs Program tracks the number of registration requests and eligible individuals. Data is collected as part of registration activities, which can be extracted and analyzed. The Indian Registration System and Secure Certificate of Indian Status Web Application collect gender information from which the program can extract data to measure and assess the impacts on gender and diversity. As it relates to GBA Plus, the most relevant data would be age, sex and province of residence. Other data points would be limited. Due to known past sex-based inequities in the Indian Act, the program can use life events, such as birth and marriage, to assess how gender has historically impacted entitlement to registration under the Indian Act. Although individuals may choose to wait until later in life to apply for registration, they could then share their gender information. Individuals applying for Indian registration and/or for an Indian status card can select a third option on application forms: M (male), F (female), or X (another gender). To mirror changes made allowing for a third option "X" in fields pertaining to gender on forms for the registration process, Estates, Trusts, and Treaty Program Teams are working to either remove fields pertaining to either gender or sex from forms where they are not required, and in instances where they are required, provide more inclusive terminology/options for filling out said fields. The Estates Reporting System tracks information relevant to Dependent Adults under ISC's jurisdiction, such as sex, marital status and residence on/off reserve. The Trust, Lands and Treaty System administers funds held in trust for First Nations and individuals pursuant to the Indian Act. It also accrues annually and administers payments of amounts owing to First Nations and First Nation individuals pursuant to the Robinson-Huron, Robinson-Superior and eleven Numbered Treaties.

As part of the ongoing work on a New Fiscal Relationship that seeks to secure sufficient, predictable and flexible funding for First Nations, Indigenous Services Canada and the Assembly of First Nations have been working together to develop a National Outcome-Based Framework which will measure and report on First Nations socio-economic outcomes. The Framework will be an important element of mutual accountability, whereby the Government of Canada and First Nations hold each other accountable for commitments to improve the well-being of First Nations, moving away from indicators of program-based outputs to outcomes that reflect First Nations ways of seeing, knowing and understanding. Importantly, the Framework is intended to be evergreen and will evolve as First Nations develop their data and statistical capacity, incorporating improved indicators and data sources as they are developed, on a variety of factors including gender, age, geography and income. The evaluation of the New Fiscal Relationship Grant planned for 2024-25 will provide evidence on the ability of various First Nations to access the New Fiscal Relationship Grant and the impacts of the Grant on diverse subpopulations of First Nations.

The New Fiscal Relationship will work to ensure that the perspectives of diverse subpopulations are incorporated into research design and policy proposals, for example, by including gender, income, age, geography and 2SLGBTQI+ considerations in sufficiency, audit and fiscal policy approaches.

The Indigenous Governance and Capacity Program is planning to conduct analysis to understand individual and sub-population level impacts of governance, beyond ISC's current understanding of community-level impacts. This is underway through the efforts to modernize Canada's support for First Nation governance. For example, collection of disaggregated data to benchmark salaries through Statistics Canada has been completed as of March 2023. This involved a preliminary review of data from self-government agreements, which informed a range of occupational classes to explore further. Between self-government models and co-development activities, 21 occupational classes related to governance functions were identified for analysis. Through Statistics Canada, the analysis compared average salaries of the occupational classes for First Nations on-reserve and off-reserve with the general Canadian population, separated by remoteness. The study found that First Nations' average salaries on reserve were 28% less than non-remote Canadian communities and 21% less than remote Canadian communities. This analysis corresponds to First Nation governments' capacities in offering competitive salaries for hiring and retainment of necessary governance and administrative positions. It demonstrates that First Nation communities are overall at a disadvantage in labour market participation related to governance and administrative capacity. This information may be applied going forward to understand the impact of the Indigenous Governance and Capacity programs on groups disaggregated by employment income.

Although the Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data is primarily oriented to supporting Indigenous-led data strategies and data capacity, it also includes funds to increase the visibility of Indigenous Peoples in Canada's national statistics in the more immediate term. The department has allocated $5.6 million for 2023-24 and 2024-25 for data collection investments in support of distinctions-based (disaggregated) Indigenous data. These future investments, through Statistics Canada's survey ecosystem, will be informed by known data gaps and assessment of priority areas for indicator development. They will allow better capacity to report on impacts of gender and diversity.