Department of National Defence Indigenous Reconciliation Program - Program Overview
Funding Availability Notice
At this time, all available program funding for the current fiscal year has been allocated. Those interested are encouraged to continue to submit proposals, which will be reviewed and may be considered if additional funding becomes available.
Funding is limited each year, and the number of eligible initiatives may exceed available resources. Therefore, not all eligible initiatives may be funded, and applicants that receive funding may not receive the full amount requested or a similar amount of funding received in previous years.
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About the Indigenous Reconciliation Program
The Indigenous Reconciliation Program (IRP) provides funding to support meaningful and sustained relationships between Indigenous communities and the Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF).
The program helps ensure that DND activities, operations and engagement practices reflect the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and advance broader Government Canada reconciliation goals. Through the IRP, DND promotes early engagement, collaboration and dialogue with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada on matters of common interest.
As of March 31, 2026, 68 funding agreements have been put in place providing more than $3.8 million to Indigenous recipients to support:
- Engagement and Collaboration
- Research Support
- Policy Development.
Who can access funding
The IRP provides grants and contributions to Indigenous individuals and Indigenous-led organizations located in Canada, including:
- Indigenous Peoples (First Nation, Inuit and Métis);
- Indigenous Governments, including band councils or tribal councils, or its delegated authorities;
- Indigenous organizations;
- Indigenous self-government entities;
- Indigenous local, regional and national representative organizations;
- Incorporated not-for-profit Indigenous controlled organizations;
- Incorporated for-profit Indigenous controlled organizations, when the work being performed under the transfer agreement is not-for-profit; and
- Indigenous-controlled unincorporated organizations.
Indigenous-led means that individuals who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) hold 51% of the leadership positions. This must be true at both managerial and governance levels. Government of Canada employees and Canadian Armed Forces members are not eligible to receive grant and/or contribution funding from the Crown.
Eligible initiatives
Up to $1.5 million in grants and contributions funding will be allocated each year through the IRP, ending in 2026-2027. Eligible activities include:
- Engagement and Collaboration Grants
- Initiatives to support collaborative engagement on matters of defence infrastructure, real property planning and land use to support relationship building between DND and Indigenous people and their communities and representative organizations.
- Research Support Contributions
- Activities in this stream should encourage and should support the participation of and collaboration of Indigenous communities and organizations in DND’s consultation and engagement processes.
- Policy Development Contributions
- Provide non-recurring financial support to initiatives that investigate, develop, propose, review, inform and/or consult on policy matters related to the Defence mandate or advancing the Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged.
How to access funding
Applicants are encouraged to read the Program Guidelines prior to submitting a funding request form/proposal.
We also encourage applicants to engage with a program representative prior to the completion of a funding request. Should you wish to be contacted by a program representative, please submit an email request to: IRP-PRPA@forces.gc.ca.
Please also refer to the Program Guidelines for a listing of eligible initiatives and expenditures and send a completed proposal to: IRP-PRPA@forces.gc.ca
To complete the proposal process, please ensure you follow the below steps:
- Complete, sign and date a proposal package. This includes the proposals general information, funding requested, and proposal information. If you have any questions during the development of your proposal, please contact: IRP-PRPA@forces.gc.ca
- Submit your proposal to the following email address: IRP-PRPA@forces.gc.ca
If the activities in the proposal are deemed ineligible for this funding, we will make reasonable efforts to identify alternative resources, but does not guarantee their availability. This effort supports, where possible a single window for accessing support.
Submission deadline
Proposals may be submitted to the department throughout the fiscal year for both current and future year funding. The department has established the annual deadline for proposals for current fiscal year requests. Annual deadlines for funding proposals are as follows:
- 2026-2027 – March 1, 2027
Contact us
Address:
Department of National Defence
Director General of Indigenous Affairs
60 Moodie Drive, Building 10E
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K2
Email: IRP-PRPA@forces.gc.ca.
Disclosure of information
Funding requests are subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The information you submit in your proposal may be disclosed in accordance with these acts.
By submitting your proposal, you authorize the department to disclose information submitted with this form/proposal within the Government of Canada or to external entities for the purposes of:
- reaching a funding decision; and
- supporting transparency, accountability and citizen engagement