2025 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada Follow-up on Programs for First Nations
Good morning Mr. Chair and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today on our follow-up report on programs for First Nations, which was tabled on October 21st, 2025. I’d like to begin by recognizing that we are meeting on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. I’m grateful for the contributions and stewardship of Indigenous peoples across Canada, who for generations have cared for the lands they call home. With me today are Andrew Hayes, Deputy Auditor General, and Doreen Deveen, the director who led the
audit team.
Programs for First Nations have been a concern for my office for decades. In this follow-up audit, we examined Indigenous Services Canada’s progress on 34 recommendations from 6 audits my office has conducted since 2015. These 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. These audits are talking about things many Canadians take for granted.
Despite almost doubling spending on programs over the last 5 years, we found that Indigenous Services Canada made unsatisfactory progress on more than half of our previous recommendations.
For instance, as early as 2005, we identified concerns with drinking water quality in First Nations communities. Although the number of long-term 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 advisories had remained in effect for a decade or longer.
Similarly, we also recommended in 2013 and again in 2022 that the department establish agreements to ensure that all First Nations communities have access to emergency services. In this follow-up audit we found that even fewer emergency service agreements were in place than in 2022. These agreements are essential for timely, coordinated response to events such as wildfires and floods, while mitigating the disruption to peoples’ lives and damage to critical infrastructure.
Reflecting on our audit findings as well as decades of audit reports on Indigenous matters, we identified 4 barriers that, in our opinion, hindered the implementation of our recommendations: lack of sustained management attention, lack of clarity around service levels, insufficient support to bolster First Nations capacity to deliver programs, and a passive and siloed approach to supporting First Nations.
One thing is clear: the public service has to do a better job in working with First Nations to make meaningful progress on these long-standing issues that have spanned successive governments and impact multiple generations. In my view, this will require a different approach and mindset.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.