2024-2025 Highlight report: Urban Indigenous

On this page

• Introduction
• Housing, shelters and homelessness
• Community safety
• Culture and language revitalization
• Conclusion

Introduction

In response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Final Report and Call for Justice 1.1, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan (National Action Plan) was released on June 3, 2021. The Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People (federal pathway) is the federal government's contribution to the National Action Plan and represents the Government of Canada's commitment to addressing violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The federal government is taking flexible and focused action to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, as the needs and priorities of Indigenous families and survivors, urban Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples vary. Toward this aim, the Urban Indigenous Highlight Report will communicate federal progress made on the priorities and needs of urban Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, as identified in the Urban Sub-Working Group's National Urban Action Plan and the Congress of Aboriginal People's CAP National Action Plan (PDF).

As the National Inquiry reported, urban Indigenous populations have experienced massive growth since the mid-20th century. As a product of natural growth, the reclamation of Indigenous ties, the restoration of Indian Status under Bill C-31 in 1985, and voluntary and involuntary migration, urban centres have become home to over one million Indigenous people (Statistics Canada). While this growth has resulted in the emergence of vibrant, authentic urban Indigenous communities, it has not been met with a commensurate investment in the services, supports, programs, and infrastructure that urban Indigenous communities need to thrive. Further, Indigenous people who were forced to relocate to urban centres require a higher degree of support, as they are often dealing with poverty, physical and mental illness, a lack of Status, or violent victimization. Urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people have clearly voiced the need for dedicated, culturally appropriate, services, supports, programs, and infrastructure in order to ensure they have access to culture, health, safety, justice, and—ultimately—a life free from violence.

The Urban Sub-Working Group's National Actions Plan envisions that any actions to address the crisis of MMWIG2S+ in urban centres must include the voices of urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people and supported by federal resources and investments. The following report, which is a part of the 2024-25 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report, discusses federal pathway initiatives undertaken in 2024-25 that responds to the priorities identified by the Urban Sub-Working Group and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

Housing, shelters and homelessness

Access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing is a fundamental right and, as the Urban National Action Plan reports, improvements to housing and safe spaces are a top priority for urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As the National Inquiry made abundantly clear, insufficient access to housing and safe spaces poses an extreme risk to Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, is a violation of their human rights, and is a major cause of the violence they face. Many Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people relocate to urban areas to seek safety only to find themselves even more marginalized. In recognition of the housing and shelter needs of urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, the federal government continues to invest, and implement programs, to address urban Indigenous housing insecurity.

The National Housing Strategy (NHS), led by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC), is an 10 year, $115 billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. HICC delivers programs within the NHS, which includes investments that will improve housing security for Indigenous Peoples living in urban areas. As of March 31st 2025, the National Housing Strategy's Affordable Housing Fund has conditionally or financially committed $24.96 million toward the repair of 572 units in the existing urban Indigenous community housing stock. Further, $200 million has been allocated through the Canada Community Housing Initiative delivered by provinces and territories under the National Housing Strategy Bilateral Agreements, Provinces and Territories have maintained 4,723 and ensured 3,434 urban Indigenous housing units are in good condition so they continue to be made available to low-income households.^{Footnote 1}

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada's Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy is working alongside Indigenous governments, organizations, and communities, to advance discussions and collaboration on the causes of homelessness and culturally-appropriate solutions, including key policy and priority issues. In 2024–25, Reaching Home invested over $110 million, through the Indigenous Homelessness stream, to fund projects in 30 urban and/or rural communities, and seven regional areas. Reaching Home also invested over $52 million in the Distinctions-based Approach stream that delivers direct funding to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis governments, including Modern Treaty holders. Reaching Home aims to prevent and reduce homelessness by providing direct support and funding to communities. This gives communities the flexibility to respond to local challenges and priorities by investing in a range of interventions, including programming designed to meet the needs of vulnerable populations (for example, women and/or families fleeing violence, Indigenous people, 2SLGBTQI+ communities).

The Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy (URN Strategy) works to narrow the housing gap and address the critical disparities in housing conditions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous households across urban, rural, and northern communities. Complementing existing distinctions-based approaches, this strategy ensures that Indigenous partners, including urban Indigenous partners, receive targeted, culturally relevant, and Indigenous-led housing solutions. In 2024–25, the request for proposals process for the Indigenous-led National Indigenous Housing Centre was launched and is currently ongoing. The Centre is projected to be operational by 2025–26. Similar to other Inuit housing investments made by the federal government, this strategy seeks to address short-term housing concerns in a manner that respects the self-determination of Inuit communities.

The Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative (ISTHI), jointly funded by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Indigenous Services Canada, has allocated funding to support the construction and operation of new shelters across Canada. As of 2024–25, ISTHI is funding 28 projects with urban Indigenous partners, funding 2 new projects with urban Indigenous partners, in addition to the 5 existing projects that were ongoing prior to this fiscal year. ISTHI advances Indigenous governance over shelter systems, strengthens community-led violence prevention infrastructure, and integrates culturally relevant models of care, representing a fundamental shift toward self-determination and approaches to housing.

Community safety

As the National Urban Action Plan states, the pathway to addressing violence against urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people require investments in Indigenous-led, community-led violence prevention initiatives. Urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people are the subject matter experts on their own safety, and the federal government supports Indigenous-led solutions in this area.

The Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative, funded by Indigenous Services Canada, continues to assist First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and partners, both on and off reserve, to implement Indigenous-designed projects to improve community safety and well-being. The initiative recognizes the importance of traditional knowledge and practices that contribute to greater community safety and well-being. As an example of the work being carried out to support the safety of urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people:

• The Treaty 8 Urban Child and Family Services Office received $1 million for supporting prevention and early intervention-based programming, including holistic, nation-based service delivery.
• The Métis Nation of Ontario received $999,189 for their Wellbeing of Métis and Urban Indigenous Individuals project that will increase the capacity for their Community Wellbeing Branch's Anti-Human Trafficking and Victims Services programs, and fund the delivery of culturally relevant and holistic programming for women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ persons at risk of violence, abuse, criminal justice involvement, human trafficking and other harm.

Public Safety's Northern and Indigenous Crime Prevention Fund (FPCN) supports culturally sensitive projects that reduce vulnerability to crime and promote community safety approaches in Indigenous communities, both on and off-reserve, and in the North. The NICPF also builds capacity and knowledge to identify and promote Indigenous crime prevention and community safety best practices.

• The Moosomin First Nation received $4,651,500 over 5 years for their Moosomin Community Safety Plan to implement a project aiming to revitalize traditional crime-prevention methods and integrate them with contemporary techniques at the community level to enhance community safety and address socio-economic challenges.

In addition to the emergency shelters and transitional housing funded by Indigenous Services Canada's Family Violence Prevention Program, the program also funded culturally-appropriate, community-driven violence prevention and front line service delivery projects. Among these investments is:

• The Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke received funding for the Sharing Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Interventions to Prevent Family Violence which developed a resource manual, and designed and delivered programming on family and gender-based violence, and engaged specifically with the urban Indigenous population in the Montreal area to identify how to address violence.

Culture and language revitalization

The relocation of Indigenous Peoples to urban centres, whether voluntary or involuntary, has put additional strain on Indigenous cultures and languages, as traditional communities are dispersed. As the National Inquiry reported, culture and language are protective barriers against violence for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, such that when access to culture and language is limited, the safety and wellbeing of these individuals also suffers. The federal government recognizes that urban Indigenous peoples require support in order to revitalize, restore, and protect their languages and cultures.

Canadian Heritage's Indigenous Language Program continues to support the efforts of Indigenous peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages, including in urban settings. For example, in 2024–25, approximately $1.8 million were allocated to the National Association of Friendship Centers (NAFC) as part of a 3-year $6.6 million agreement which started in 2022–2023. This project aimed to assess the needs of Indigenous urban populations, including identifying existing urban Indigenous language programs and initiatives, completing a literature review on Indigenous languages and urban spaces and conducting analysis and case studies on promising practices and developing pilot projects. It also aimed to support the organization of a national gathering on Indigenous languages with experts and community authorities for sharing of knowledge.  

The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative, operated by Employment and Social Development Canada, continued to work to ensure all Indigenous children experience high-quality, culturally appropriate early learning and child care, and supported ongoing collaborative work to reflect the unique cultures, aspirations and needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and families across Canada. An example of their work includes:

• The distribution of $1,400,928 to 6 urban Indigenous projects, including $671,081 for Developing a Wholistic Urban Indigenous ELCC Framework & Service System Transformation operated by the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, which developed a Friendship Centre governance model to define what high-quality Indigenous early learning and child care means to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.

The Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern Communities Program, led by the Public Health Agency of Canada, continued to support the delivery of community-based programming for children aged 0-6 and their families in urban and northern regions. This culturally specific programming has six core components including : culture and language, health promotion, nutrition, social support, and more. The program integrates Indigenous traditions, languages and practices, and in doing so, strengthened cultural pride and community connection. In 2024-25, the program:

• invested $66.8 million towards providing culturally grounded early learning opportunities developed in collaboration and consultation with Indigenous partners
• engaged with Indigenous partners on the co-design of culturally relevant programming to ensure that services meet community-specific needs

The Indigenous Screen Office, supported by Canadian Heritage, is an independent, not-for-profit, Indigenous-led funding organization serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis creators of audiovisual content in Canada. The office is responsible for Canadian Heritage's Indigenous Screen Office Program, which supports Indigenous audiovisual projects in any format, such as film, television, podcasts, and video games. Budget 2024 allocated $65 million in new funding over 5 years, starting in 2024–25, and $13 million in ongoing annual funding.

Conclusion

As set out in the National Inquiry, National Urban Action Plan and the CAP National Action Plan, urban Indigenous Peoples have unique needs and challenges as a result of their voluntary and involuntary migration away from their traditional communities. Although urban Indigenous Peoples have been able to form new communities, these communities have struggled to thrive as a result of violence, housing insecurity, the inaccessibility of culture and language, among other issues. In 2024–25, the federal government continued to support urban Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led solutions to the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people crisis, and provided the resources for urban Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people to lead this process.