Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says 'Jordan’s Principle has grown rapidly because the needs are very urgent and real.'Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
The federal government is committing $1.55-billion to extend funding for Jordan’s Principle, an initiative which provides First Nations children with equal access to health, social and educational supports.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, who oversees Jordan’s Principle, made the announcement in the House of Commons foyer Thursday afternoon, where she said the funding will apply for a year, until March 31, 2027.
“This renewal will provide immediate stability and allows communities to continue delivering services with confidence,” Ms. Gull-Masty said. “Jordan’s Principle has grown rapidly because the needs are very urgent and real.”
Jordan’s Principle provides health, social and educational supports to First Nations children when they need them, regardless of which government has jurisdiction.
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The legal principle is named in memory of Jordan River Anderson, a five-year-old boy from Norway House Cree Nation, who died in 2005, and 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 House of Commons unanimously passed a motion in 2007 committing the government to ensuring First Nations children get necessary services without delays caused by jurisdictional squabbles between governments.
Jordan’s Principle has seen a significant growth in demand over the past decade, with the department saying in a statement that more than 10 million products, services and supports were approved under it from July, 2016, to September, 2025.
About $1.3-billion was allocated to Jordan’s Principle in the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to the 2025 federal budget, which is set to end on March 31.
The one-year extension is taking place as the government works with First Nations partners to reform Jordan’s Principle long-term.
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Brittany Mathews, director of reconciliation and strategic policy at the Ottawa-based non-profit First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, called the funding “a good first step by the government, but ultimately falls flat in the face of” continued non-compliance orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on Jordan’s Principle.
In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered the government to cease narrowing its implementation of Jordan’s Principle, she said, and ultimately found that it was discriminating against First Nations children in its provision of First Nations child welfare and Jordan’s Principle. It has since issued numerous non-compliance and procedural orders over the past decade, she said.
In January, 2025, the tribunal ordered Canada to immediately remedy the backlog of approximately 130,000 Jordan’s Principle cases, she said, but “a year later, the backlog remains.”
“This means that there are thousands of First Nations children still waiting for the services they are legally entitled to receive without delay,” Ms. Mathews said ahead of the announcement Thursday.
The society is also calling for the changes imposed by a February, 2025, operational bulletin by Indigenous Services to be rescinded, said Ms. Mathews. Those changes included significantly increasing the documentation required for requests, and limiting the scope of what is approved.
It has meant that previously-funded supports are now being denied.
Ms. Gull-Masty acknowledged that the operational bulletin created “a perplexity in how paperwork is processed.” She said she has been working with families, who have told her that they want the application process to be slimmer and more responsive to their needs.
While she understands that the society wishes that the bulletin would be repealed, “we want to ensure that it is meeting the needs of children and what their supports and services look like,” Ms. Gull-Masty said.
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The department has addressed about 120,000 new requests, Ms. Gull-Masty said, and has undertaken a strategy to bring in more staff to assist in processing the backlog rapidly.
Ms. Gull-Masty announced $115-million last week to renew for one-year funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative, the Inuit equivalent of Jordan’s Principle.
Inuit and First Nations leaders warned of funding gaps before both announcements.
When asked Thursday why the funding was not announced sooner, Ms. Gull-Masty pointed to a “new budgeting process,” but said she was never worried the program would be left without funding.
With a report from The Canadian Press