Social Development Programs

The Government of Canada is responsible for funding certain programs and services to First Nations communities. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) develops policies and delivers social development programs to First Nations on reserve. In an effort to address social conditions on reserve, over the years INAC has established five programs:

1. First Nation Child and Family Services: includes 105 First Nation Child and Family Services agencies in 429 communities, serves 75% of First Nation communities and 85% of the 0-18 population, and reimburses provinces/territories for the provision of these services in the remaining 144 First Nation communities.
   
   
2. Income Assistance: provides eligible recipients with the means to meet basic needs for food, clothing and shelter in 533 communities. The Income Assistance Program is available to all on-reserve residents and their dependents who meet the eligibility criteria, as defined by the province or territory of residence, and who are in need of basic or special financial assistance.
   
   
3. Assisted Living: provides social support services to individuals with chronic illness or disabilities in all communities, in a home or institutional setting. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is currently working with Health Canada on options to respond to long-term facility-based care needs on reserve.
   
   
4. Family Violence Prevention Program: supports the operation of 35 culturally appropriate shelters, which serve approximately 265 communities, and delivers about 350 prevention programs on reserve annually.
   
   
5. National Child Benefit Reinvestment: provides First Nation communities with resources to design and implement community-based projects to improve the lives of children in low-income families. The program is intended to help reduce child poverty, help low-income parents rejoin the workforce, and reduce program overlaps at the community level.

Current Reality

• On the Human Development Index, First Nations on-reserve would rank 62^nd, some experiencing Third World conditions, while Canada as a whole consistently ranks near the top.
• Almost half (47%) of First Nations people on reserve live in poverty, with an income of less than $10,000; three out of five Aboriginal children under six years of age live in poverty.
• Unemployment and poverty rates are three times those in the non-Aboriginal community.
• Suicide is now among the leading causes of death among First Nations children and youth.
• The suicide rate is 40 per 100,000 among First Nations as compared to the national average of 13 per 100,000.
• The First Nations population is increasing by 2.3% annually.
• Aboriginal children die at three times the rate of non-Aboriginal children.
• First Nations birth rate is two times the comparable rate for Canada.
• Canadians have one of the world's highest life expectancies but Aboriginal people can expect to live a decade less on average.

Social Development Policy Framework

Current statistics and research show that INAC's social programs and services for First Nations are not meeting the basic services and standards that are available to other Canadians.

To address this, INAC is working with the Assembly of First Nations, First Nations partners, other government departments, and provincial and territorial governments, to develop a cohesive and comprehensive social development framework that would establish the basis for better programming.

More broadly, the framework is aimed at developing an inclusive, holistic and culturally relevant social development system that would lead to healthy, safe and sustainable communities, and the eventual transfer of control over social development to First Nations.

October 2006