2023-24 Highlight Report: Inuit

On this page

• Introduction
• Housing and Infrastructure for Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People
• Preventing Violence Against Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people
• Improving Healthcare Services for Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People
• Improving Access to Justice for Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People
• Restoring and Revitalizing Inuktut
• Improving Education for Inuit Children

Introduction

In response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Final Report and Call for Justice 1.1, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan (National Action Plan) was released on June 3, 2021. The Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People (Federal Pathway) is the federal government's contribution to the National Action Plan. As National Action Plan partners, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Pauktuutit contributed their own action plan tailored to the specific needs and priorities of Inuit women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The following report, which is a part of the 2023-24 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report, highlights Federal Pathway initiatives that have made progress in 2023-24 towards the priorities identified in the National Inuit Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Inuit Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people (National Inuit Action Plan).

Housing and Infrastructure for Inuit Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People

A top priority outlined in the National Inuit Action Plan is the urgent action needed to resolve the housing crisis in Inuit Nunangat. The Inuit Action Plan also emphasizes the need for shelters, transition housing, and second-stage housing, specifically calling on the federal government to allocate funding to Inuit Land Claim Organizations for the development of housing for Inuit. In addition to improvements in housing, the National Inuit Action Plan states that the infrastructure gap between Inuit Nunangat and the rest of Canada must be closed. In response to this priority, the Government of Canada has continued to support the improvement of infrastructure in Inuit communities through the Federal Pathway, in addition to new investments.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is continuing to deliver $845 million for Inuit housing through the Budget 2022 Distinctions-Based Housing Investments. As recommended by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, this funding is being distributed to the four Inuit Treaty Organizations based on Inuit determined allocations. For example:

• The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is almost done completing a 17 unit affordable rent apartment building, which will have units for seniors and a playground for children.

Similarly, this year through the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada continued to deliver funding to support the infrastructure priorities as defined by Inuit communities. This funding is being delivered to the four Inuit Treaty Organizations who are generally targeting non-housing community infrastructure such as shelters, arenas, marine infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, road infrastructure and others.

This year, a total of 11 Inuit-specific shelters and transitional homes have been approved through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative (ISTHI), funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Indigenous Services Canada, including:

• Six emergency shelters located in Inuvialuit (1); Nunavut (4); and, Nunavik (1)
• Five transitional homes located in Nunavut (4) and Nunavik (1)

Beyond physical infrastructure, the Universal Broadband Fund, operated by Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, is a $3.2 billion investment helping to achieve Canada's Connectivity Strategy Targets to provide high-speed Internet access to 98% of Canadian households by 2026 and 100% by 2030. In August 2023, the Government of Canada announced an additional $10.3 million to the original $22 million in federal funding for a connectivity project that will bring high speed Internet access to over 1,000 households on Labrador Inuit territory.

Preventing Violence Against Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people

As the National Inuit Action Plan states, there is a need for violence prevention programming for Inuit women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Violence prevention in Inuit communities remains a significant priority for the Government of Canada. Several investments throughout the Federal Pathway are intended to support Inuit-specific violence prevention activities.

The Comprehensive Violence Prevention Program is responsible for supporting violence prevention programming in Indigenous communities. Through this program, Indigenous Services Canada has collaborated with Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada to help generate applications for violence prevention funding from Inuit organizations and Inuit communities. In 2023-24, the program funded Inuit-specific violence prevention activities, such as:

• The Isaruit Inuit Women's Sewing Centre brings together Inuit artists, elders, and instructors, using the media of visual arts, carving, sewing, language, and other culturally appropriate supports to mentor members of the Inuit community of Ottawa. The Isaruit Inuit Arts for Family Well-Being Program supports and creates a safe space for those struggling with domestic violence, either from past events, or in their present relationships by restoring cultural and personal identity connections.

Similarly, the Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative, funded by Indigenous Services Canada, supports Indigenous-led safety programs, interventions and services. In 2023-24, the Initiative provided $2.2 million for several Inuit-led projects:

• Tungasuvvingat Inuit is hiring a project coordinator to oversee a support group for LGBTQ+ Inuit living in Ontario, provide virtual cultural workshops, in-person community gatherings, a private peer support page on social media and service navigation services.
• The Hamlet of Coral Harbour is supporting the community through cultural programs that provide traditional teachings, and the sharing traditional knowledge through events in the community that help to create a safe environment while building stability and economic developmental opportunities.
• The Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre is supporting the Inuusirvik Community Wellness Service Delivery Model. It is a family-centred, evidence-based model for promoting health and wellbeing in the community that can be delivered in a holistic Inuit framework.
• Pauktuutit is creating a National Inuit Women's support and awareness network that will strengthen partnerships and build the capacity of the Inuit women's sector.

Improving Healthcare Services for Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People

In the National Inuit Action Plan, Pauktuutit and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami emphasized the need for improved healthcare services throughout Inuit Nunangat to prevent violence and support the healing journeys of Inuit families and survivors. Several Federal Pathway initiatives are working towards advancing this priority.

To this effect, the Support for the Wellbeing of Families and Survivors of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People program, funded by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, continues to support Inuit families and survivors. This year, the program continued to fund Pauktuutit to collaborate with an advisory group comprised of family and survivors including elders and youth from across Inuit Nunangat and urban cities to develop culturally relevant activities that support Inuit families and survivors.

Similarly, as a part of the anti-Indigenous racism in Canada's health systems, led by Indigenous Services Canada and Health Canada, 12 projects have received funding to improve cultural safety and increase access to health system navigators in the four Inuit Land Claim Organizations. For example, this year, funding continued to support:

• Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services received funding to support Indigenous Patient Advocate and Health System Navigator projects within the respective territories of these Inuit Land Claim Organizations to ensure that Inuit patients have access to culturally safe services. Health System Navigators funded by Inuit organizations work to ensure that Inuit patients are able to navigate health systems in a culturally safe manner, while Indigenous Patient Advocates assist Inuit patients to access and work through the provincial/territorial and professional regulatory complaints processes.
• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to advance the Inuit Para-Professional Healthcare Workforce. This approach involves collecting available and existing data, conducting interviews, organizing roundtables, and facilitating workshops in each of the four Inuit regions. The primary focus of these efforts is to explore various aspects, including health outcomes, skills development, employment, income, healthcare delivery costs, service wait times and the utilization of healthcare services in Inuit communities. The anticipated outcome of this collaboration will be the development of an Inuit health sector intelligence tool—an innovative initiative that will offer a comprehensive understanding of the impact of Inuit Para-Professional Healthcare Workers on both the Inuit economy and Inuit health.
• The Ottawa Hospital received funding for their project titled "Advancing Culturally Safe Care for Inuit in the Canadian Health System", which aimed to foster culturally safe, wrap-around care for Inuit in Ottawa to improve patient experiences and health outcomes for Inuit in health care settings. This was primarily achieved through education and knowledge-building on anti-racism and discrimination for healthcare staff, as well as highlighting the importance of providing traditional Inuit materials and foods within acute care settings and fostering appropriate engagement structures with Inuit and health organizations.

Improving Access to Justice for Inuit Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ People

In the National Inuit Action Plan, Pauktuutit and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami establish the need to address systemic racism in the justice system. In response to this priority, the federal government has made investments to prevent discrimination and reduce systemic barriers.

Justice Canada has invested $2.7 million in 6 Inuit-led projects, from 2020 to 2025, to support the implementation of Gladue Principles through the Indigenous Justice Program. Broadly, these principles recognize the unique systemic or background factors which may have played a part in bringing an Indigenous person in contact with the law and should be considered in criminal justice decision-making and advocate for alternate measures and other community-based options for Indigenous people in conflict with the law, including culturally appropriate restorative and traditional Indigenous justice processes. Funded initiatives are currently working to deliver programming that reflects the justice values, traditions and cultures of Indigenous communities. Part of this funding was for projects focused on systemic change, informed by Gladue Principles, in the mainstream criminal justice system, including educating criminal justice system professionals and changing mainstream practices, processes and structures to address systemic barriers and discrimination. For example:

• The Nunavut Legal Service Board is developing and delivering training to all lawyers and staff at the Legal Services Board of Nunavut. The training will strive to find meaningful ways to work with Inuit, reduce the overrepresentation of Inuit in the criminal justice system and support more community based restorative justice measures.
• The Nunatsiavut Government is supporting the development an Inuit Cultural Awareness Educator who will work closely with partners to develop and deliver a series of educational sessions. Sessions will educate criminal justice professionals who are working in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador about the culture and history of Labrador Inuit. These projects can influence systemic change at all stages of the criminal justice system.

Restoring and Revitalizing Inuktut

The National Inuit Action Plan states the need for funding to revitalize, maintain, strengthen and promote Inuktut throughout Inuit Nunangat. In alignment with this statement, the federal government passed the Indigenous Languages Act in 2019 and, in 2023-24, allocated $163.8 million to support the efforts of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim, revitalize, maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages. Through this funding, Canadian Heritage has supported Inuit-led language projects. For example:

• The Makivvik Corporation has received funds for the Avataq Cultural Institute to establish and operate an Inuktitut Language Authority, a central institution for implementing Illirijavut's report on the state of Inuktitut in Nunavik.

Improving Education for Inuit Children

The National Inuit Action Plan articulates the importance of enabling Inuit students to access an education provided in Inuktut. To this end, the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative aims to support the implementation of the Inuit Early learning and Child Care Framework. This Framework outlines guiding principles and policy recommendations essential to creating a self-determined and Inuit-centered Early Learning and Child Care system that provides the opportunity for Inuit children to experience high-quality, culturally-rooted early learning and child care programming. Aligning with the goals and priorities identified in the Framework, the flexibility of this initiative enables Inuit to design, deliver and invest in solutions that responds to their needs and priorities.

Inuit Nunangat partners continue to advance a vision for this Framework that provides opportunities for Inuit students to learn and speak Inuktut, and benefit from Inuit programming. In Nunavut, funding has supported Indigenous languages resources, Inuit cultural programs, wage subsidies for Early Learning and Child Care staff, as well as improvements to existing childcare facilities. In 2023-24, this initiative provided funding to 73 Inuit communities to increase accessibility and expand services, including services that support cultural revitalization.