Auditor General reports
Indigenous Services Canada has made unsatisfactory progress in improving critical First Nations programs
Follow-up on Programs for First Nations
Report metadata
- Tabling date:
- Audited entities:
- Indigenous Services Canada
- Report type
- Auditor General reports
At a glance
This report follows up on Indigenous Services Canada’s progress in implementing recommendations made in 6 audits completed from 2015 to 2022. The 6 audits covered a range of programs important to the health and well-being of First Nations communities, including programs providing access to primary health care, emergency management services, and safe drinking water. Overall, we found that the department had made unsatisfactory progress in implementing the actions to address 53% (18 of 34) of the recommendations. Despite an 84% increase in the department’s spending on programs since the 2019–20 fiscal year, significant challenges remained in improving services and program outcomes for First Nations communities. For instance, as early as 2005, we identified concerns with drinking water quality in First Nations communities. Although the number of drinking water advisories has diminished since our 2021 audit of access to safe drinking water in First Nations communities, we are greatly concerned that 9 long-term advisories have remained in effect for a decade or longer.
In our 2013 report on emergency management on reserves and again in our 2022 report on emergency management in First Nations communities, we recommended that the department establish agreements to ensure that all First Nations communities across the country have access to emergency services. Timely, coordinated responses to events such as wildfires and floods are essential to mitigate disruption to peoples’ lives and damage to critical infrastructure. In this follow-up audit, however, we found that fewer agreements were in place than in 2022.
The department agreed to address our 34 past recommendations when they were issued. Many align with commitments the government made in response to the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and the 2019 Calls for Justice included in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and with commitments in the 2023 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan. In this audit, we identified 4 barriers that hindered the implementation of our recommendations. Unless significant progress is made in addressing these barriers, the federal government may struggle to improve services and program outcomes and to advance reconciliation.
Key facts and findings
- During our 2021 audit, on November 1, 2020, 60 long-term drinking water advisories were in effect in First Nations communities, despite federal commitments to eliminate them by that year. As of April 1, 2025, there were 35 such advisories.
- The department has established First Nations emergency evacuation service standards only with Ontario.
- The department made satisfactory progress in implementing all 3 of the recommendations in our 2018 report on socio‑economic gaps on First Nations reserves, including improving the way education data was collected, used, and shared.
- Since 2016, the department has not assessed whether remote First Nations communities have access to essential health services comparable to other communities in similar locations.
- The department expanded the pool of eligible health care professionals to include paramedics and nurse practitioners and offered financial incentives to attract and retain staff. Despite these efforts, the department was unable to meet its target staff complement in First Nations communities.
- The department has not assessed the impact of its oral health programs or updated the process for making changes to the list of services covered by the Non‑Insured Health Benefits Program.
Why we did this audit
This audit provides parliamentarians and Canadians with an assessment of progress made by Indigenous Services Canda in implementing the actions needed to address our recommendations and improving the lives of First Nations people. Implementing our recommendations will also contribute to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Progress in Implementing Past Recommendations
Overall, we found that the department had made unsatisfactory progress in implementing the actions to address 53% (18 of 34) of the recommendations.
For more details on each individual recommendation please see the Progress in Implementing Past Recommendations table in the report.
Exhibit highlights
Indigenous Services Canada’s expenditures, 2019–20 to 2023–24
Text version
This bar graph shows Indigenous Services Canada’s expenditures from the 2019–20 to 2023–24 fiscal years. The graph shows that expenditures increased by about 84% from about $13 billion in 2019–20 to almost $24 billion in 2023–24. The expenditures by fiscal year are as follows.
Fiscal year
Expenditures
2019–20
$13,255,000,000
2020–21
$18,422,000,000
2021–22
$22,727,000,000
2022–23
$23,836,000,000
2023–24
$23,885,000,000
Source: Based on the audited consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada
Long-term drinking water advisories have decreased, but about a quarter in 2024–25 had been in effect for a decade or more
Text version
This bar graph shows the number of long-term drinking advisories that were in effect in the 2015–16 fiscal year and in the 2019–20 to 2024–25 fiscal years. It also shows the number of advisories that were added and eliminated in each fiscal year. In 2024–25, 9 of the advisories had been in effect for a decade or longer.
In 2015–16, there were 107 advisories in effect, with 14 added and 7 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2019–20, there were 60 advisories in effect, with 10 added and 10 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2020–21, there were 54 advisories in effect, with 12 added and 18 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2021–22, there were 34 advisories in effect, with 6 added and 26 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2022–23, there were 32 advisories in effect, with 5 added and 7 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2023–24, there were 28 advisories in effect, with 2 added and 6 eliminated during the fiscal year.
In 2024–25, there were 35 advisories in effect, with 10 added and 3 eliminated during the fiscal year.
Source: Based on data provided by Indigenous Services Canada
Related report(s)
Auditor General reports
Report 3—Access to Safe Drinking Water in First Nations Communities—Indigenous Services Canada
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Auditor General reports