2025-2026 Highlight report: Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people
Reporting on progress to address violence against Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people.
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Introduction
Indigenous Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and additional people (2SLGBTQI+) experience heightened marginalization as a result of colonialism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia. These intersecting forms of discrimination contribute to higher rates of violence, exclusion, and barriers to accessing culturally grounded supports. As partners to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People National Action Plan, the 2SLGBTQQIA+ Committee contributed their own action plan tailored to the specific needs and priorities of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people while also emphasizing the need for governments to address the systemic, social, and cultural factors that contribute to violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.
This 2025-2026 Highlight Report outlines federal initiatives that support priorities outlined by the 2SLGBTQQIA+ Committee's Final Report and Calls for Justice 18.1 to 18.32. These include investments in Indigenous-led programming, culturally grounded services and housing, and national efforts to prevent and address gender-based violence, and improvements to distinctions-based and disaggregated data. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how federal actions are contributing to immediate safety and well-being while contributing to longer-term systemic change for Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people.
Improving safety and wellbeing
The MMIWG 2SLGTBQQIA+ National Action Plan and the Calls for Justice emphasize the urgent need to improve the safety and wellbeing of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people, recognizing that colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia have created compounding barriers that increase vulnerability to violence. In response, federal initiatives continue to support Indigenous-led, culturally grounded, trauma-informed programming and services that improve safety, stability, and access to culturally appropriate care.
The Family Violence Prevention Program, led by Indigenous Services Canada, continued to support Indigenous-led and community-driven efforts to prevent and respond to family violence, prioritizing services for First Nations, Inuit, Métis, urban Indigenous, and 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Strengthening community supports and improving access to resources contributes to increased safety and security for survivors of gender-based violence. In 2025-2026, this included funding for projects such as From Harm to Healing: Education, Prevention, and Safe Spaces for 2-Spirits, Indigiqueer, and Transgender Individuals Affected by Family Violence, which provided education, prevention programming, and safe spaces for individuals affected by family violence. These initiatives integrate trauma-informed approaches and support capacity-building and skills development, including employment readiness training for Two-Spirit and transgender individuals.
Improving access to safe and stable housing remains essential to preventing violence and supporting well-being. The National Housing Strategy places significant emphasis on addressing the housing needs of populations with unique needs, these populations include 2SLGBTQI+ communities and Indigenous peoples. Through the National Housing Strategy, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-led programs have committed 178 new units and 7 repair units for 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation provides funding through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative to build new shelters and transitional homes for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. In 2025-2026, $28.85 million was committed to support the construction of new shelters and transitional housing for 2SLGBTQI+. As of December 31, 2025, other National Housing Strategy initiatives such as the Federal Lands Initiative, the Rapid Housing Initiative, and the Affordable Housing Fund supported the creation of 181 new units and the repair of seven housing units specifically for 2SLGBTQI+ communities. These improvements ensure that individuals at risk of homelessness or violence have access to safe, supportive, and culturally informed housing options, reflecting Calls for Justice 18.24 and 18.25.
Federal efforts also supported culturally grounded early learning and care as a pathway to long-term safety and well-being. Through the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care initiative's Quality Improvement Projects fund, led by Employment and Social Development Canada, $649,187 was provided to 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations to develop a Two-Spirit-specific resource guide and to train for caregivers and early childhood educators. These initiatives help ensure that Two-Spirit children and their caregivers have access to culturally appropriate, trauma-informed care and early learning environments that strengthen identity and belonging.
Creating safer and more inclusive public spaces is another key component of supporting Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ safety and well-being. Public Services and Procurement Canada oversaw the inclusion of gender-neutral washrooms in federal workplaces. These changes increase spaces where Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ individuals can access workplaces and buildings safely and with dignity, reflecting Call for Justice 18.11. In 2025–2026, Public Services and Procurement Canada updated its guidance to further support the inclusion of universal washrooms. This guidance forms part of a new washroom section in the Government of Canada's GCworkplace Accessibility and Inclusivity Guide, reinforcing the importance of inclusive design in federal workplaces and building projects and contributing to the safety and well‑being of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ public servants.
Justice Canada has advanced several initiatives that strengthen victim, survivors and family supports and improve access to culturally safe justice services for victims of crime including for Family Information Liaison Units which continued to assist 2SLGBTQI+ families, and families of 2SLGBTQI+ people across Canada in accessing up to date information about their missing or murdered loved ones from multiple government sources and connecting them to services and supports.
Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan
Improving the safety, dignity, and well-being of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people requires coordinated, distinctions-based action to address gender-based violence and the systemic inequalities that drive it.
The Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan and the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence are key parts of this broader effort. Led by Women and Gender Equality Canada, the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence provides a 10-year framework to coordinate federal, provincial, and territorial action aimed at building a Canada free of gender-based violence. By strengthening prevention, enhancing supports for victims and survivors, improving the accessibility and responsiveness of the justice system, enhancing social infrastructure, and reflecting the importance of implementing Indigenous-led approaches, the framework advances Calls for Justice that call for long-term strategies to prevent violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people and to improve the systems that support them, including Calls for Justice 1.5 and 1.6.
Complementing this work, Women and Gender Equality Canada continues to deliver the Increasing the Capacity of Indigenous Women's and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Organizations program, which helps Indigenous women's and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to better lead culturally informed, community-driven responses to gender-based violence. Through this program, Indigenous not-for-profit organizations are supported in expanding programming, building partnerships, and developing culturally grounded violence prevention strategies. In 2025-2026, funded projects included:
- 2 Spirits in Motion Society received $246,980 to build organizational capacity to prevent and address gender-based violence affecting Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people by hiring dedicated cultural and prevention coordinators and expanding programming that centres Indigenous healing and community connection. Activities such as seasonal gatherings, the harvesting and sharing of traditional medicines, and cultural practices including ceremonies and storytelling help strengthen cultural identity while providing safe and supportive spaces for community members
- Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres received $188,677 to implement the Healing Our Sisters initiative, strengthening provincial Friendship Centres capacity to prevent and respond to gender-based violence through outreach campaigns, culturally grounded training for staff and volunteers, public gatherings that bring together experts, community leaders, and survivors, and the development of policies, procedures, and partnerships that improve and sustain support for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people accessing Friendship Centre services
- Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan received $369,350 to advance the Honouring Her Spark: Safe Space Strategy, improving safety for Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQI+ people—particularly in northern communities—through community engagement, education workshops, and awareness campaigns that inform a province-wide Safe Space Strategy to better reflect culturally appropriate prevention efforts and safety responses across Friendship Centres
- Aboriginal Women's Organizing Network Society received $179,322 to implement the Restoring the Balance of Power in Indigenous Women's Lives initiative, supporting Indigenous women involved in the sex trade and mothers navigating the child welfare system by doing research, community engagement, partnership development, and strengthened advocacy, support services, and long-term organizational capacity
Progress toward transformational systemic change
These efforts contribute to transformational systemic change by ensuring federal policies, programs, and decision-making is guided by Indigenous leadership, culturally grounded approaches, and intersectional data. By strengthening Indigenous-led organizations, advancing coordinated national strategies to end gender-based violence, and expanding inclusive and culturally safe infrastructure, these initiatives address the root causes of violence identified in the Calls for Justice. Together, they help shape a more equitable, responsive federal system and support long-term improvements in safety, well-being, and self-determination for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people across Canada.