Jeff Copenace, Chief of the Ojibways of Onigaming, says crisis teams are 'essential' in Onigaming, which has been under a state of emergency since 2014, largely because of a youth suicide crisis.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
For the past three years, Jeff Copenace, Chief of the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation has relied on a legal rule called Jordan’s Principle to fund crisis response and safety patrol teams to serve youth in his community.
Onigaming, which has an on-reserve population of 482 people, has been under a state of emergency since 2014, largely because of a youth suicide crisis. The First Nation received between $2- to $3-million in government funding annually through Jordan’s Principle, including $1-million to support the teams, according to Mr. Copenace. The teams respond to many different types of emergencies, including suicides and overdoses, and help first responders on the reserve.
But because of changes made to how federal funding is awarded under Jordan’s Principle in February, the First Nation is now footing the bill from its own trust as of this fiscal year, Mr. Copenace said. Jordan’s Principle funding in Onigaming, which covers many different services, has dropped to $500,000, he added.
The teams are “essential” for dealing with the state of emergency, “because we get so many calls for young people that are self-harming and are threatening suicide, or actually attempting suicide,” he said in a phone call from Onigaming, located 328 kilometres east of Winnipeg, in northwestern Ontario.
“That’s the reality in our community – that we need a service like that. So we’re just doing it ourselves.”
Citing factors such as a sharp increase in requests for funding and the need for long-term sustainability, Indigenous Services Canada brought in operational changes to how funding is awarded under Jordan’s Principle in February.
Jordan’s Principle provides health and education supports to First Nations children when they need them, regardless of which government has jurisdiction. It is named in memory of Jordan River Anderson, a boy from Norway House Cree Nation who spent more than two years in a hospital because the federal and provincial governments could not agree on who was responsible for funding his at-home care.
The principle was first established by a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order and is meant to ensure substantive equality. Generally, substantive equality is a concept that recognizes that more or different resources may be needed to achieve the same outcomes among different groups because of aspects such as systemic discrimination.
People or organizations can submit individual, group or capital requests to obtain Jordan’s Principle funding. Group requests are for children who all have the same need.
The February changes were made to ensure “greater consistency and clarity on required documentation and the services First Nations children can access through Jordan’s Principle,” Indigenous Services spokesperson Jennifer Cooper said in an e-mailed statement Monday.
That has included significantly increasing documentation requirements and limiting the scope of what is approved.
Every request for Jordan’s Principle funding now needs a letter of support showing how the request links directly to a child’s unmet needs, according to Indigenous Services. The letters generally need to come from professionals, such as doctors or social workers.
The government has signalled more changes may be coming to Jordan’s Principle. Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, who was appointed in May, said she launched a review after hearing from First Nations leadership about challenges they are facing in accessing funding.
“Any change to Jordan’s Principle must be made with and for community,” she said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to sharing next steps, guided by and for community, as this process continues.”
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In the case of Onigaming, the new requirements would mean that every child would need medical notes for the safety patrol and crisis response teams to qualify for Jordan’s Principle funding, said Mr. Copenace.
To organize this in northwestern Ontario, in a community with around 200 youth, Mr. Copenace said you would essentially have to visit a hospital emergency room.
“It’s just not feasible. The hospital would turn us away,” he said. “They just wouldn’t see us – it would be ridiculous.”
Ottawa has a significant role to play in helping Onigaming lift its state of emergency, Mr. Copenace said, adding that the impact of residential schools and other colonial measures carried out by the federal government are at the root of such crises.
“Either through Jordan’s Principle or through other programming, we need their commitment to our young people,” he said. Mr. Copenace confirmed that officials visited the community last month and said they are hoping to find another funding source for the crisis and safety teams.
Ms. Cooper said Indigenous Services remains committed to working with Onigaming and other partners to identify appropriate funding options to support youth mental wellness and safety, including through Jordan’s Principle and other departmental programs, where applicable.
As of March, nearly $10-billion has been committed to Jordan’s Principle through fiscal year 2027-28, she added, and between July, 2016, and July 31, 2025, more than 9.96 million products, services and supports were approved under it.
Further north, the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate is also facing challenges related to Jordan’s Principle. Its rural nutrition program was recently denied funding, which the organization is in the process of appealing.
Since 2020, the nutrition program has provided snacks for students and two school-based warm meals. It also puts together food hampers for the First Nations children who live in the territory’s 13 rural communities.
This year, the program requested $3.9-million for 11 communities, as two larger ones now apply to Jordan’s Principle funding independently.
Melanie Bennett, the executive director of the directorate, said the organization feeds between 900 and 1,200 children per year, and the denial of funding has already caused concern.
“The anxiety level has skyrocketed across rural Yukon,” she told The Globe last week.
Cooks prepare food at the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate’s kitchen in Whitehorse on Oct. 7.Crystal Schick/The Globe and Mail
The directorate shared excerpts of the response letter it received from Indigenous Services with The Globe.
In it, the department said it assessed whether the requested services are generally available to all other children, would support the children’s unique needs, and whether providing them would ensure substantive equality.
It was denied because “substantive equality does not require the application of Jordan’s Principle to this request.”
Ms. Bennett argues the program does build substantive equality because of the high poverty rates and food costs that Indigenous people face in the territory. Statistics Canada has said poverty rates remain higher in the Yukon than the national average, with 12.9 per cent of residents living in poverty as of 2022.
Melanie Bennett, executive director of the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate, said the group feeds between 900 and 1,200 children every year.Crystal Schick/The Globe and Mail
These rates are often significantly higher in Yukon’s rural communities, many of which are primarily Indigenous, according to the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition. The poverty rate in Ross River, for example, was three times higher than Whitehorse in 2021, while Dawson City was two times higher than the capital.
The response letter from Indigenous Services said that previous approvals from Jordan’s Principle were to help assist in providing temporary bridge funding to connect families with other supports, but Ms. Bennett said that was never the intention of the nutrition program and often, those supports don’t exist.
Ms. Cooper said that Jordan’s Principle is not intended to replace government income assistance or universal programs, though it can provide temporary relief. She also pointed to the National School Food Program, which the federal government is funding with $1-billion nationally over five years.
Ms. Bennett, however, said funding from that national program would amount to $1.44 per child per day in the Yukon – and it has not yet been implemented in the territory.
“If I go to my hometown of Dawson, I can buy one granola bar with that money, and I will be short about 15 cents,” Ms. Bennett said.