2024-25 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report: Background
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Reclaiming power and place: Advancing accountability and accelerating progress through collaboration
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' (National Inquiry) final report Reclaiming Power and Place (PDF), published June 3rd, 2019, documents the complex and interconnected causes of the ongoing systemic violence targeting Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Centuries of colonialism, racism, and sexism have devalued Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ peoples' sacred and traditional roles in their families, communities, and society at large. By sharing their truths, Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, families, and survivors have outlined the path forward to reclaim their rightful power and place through 231 Calls for Justice.
The Calls for Justice make it clear that individuals, institutions, and all levels of government have a role to play in redressing violence that goes "beyond one area or issue, touching on all of the abuses and violations that family members and survivors of violence in sharing their truths".
On June 3rd, 2021, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan (national action plan) was released. The national action plan was co-developed by a series of working groups, led by the National Family and Survivors Circle Inc, the Core Working Group, and the Federal Sub-Working Group. It is meant to honour and respect Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, families, and survivors' values, knowledge, and agency by prioritizing Indigenous-led solutions and services, developed in partnership, and sustained through continued collaboration. The national action plan is intended to be evergreen, recognizing the urgency for immediate action while also emphasizing the importance of ongoing collaboration to enable transformative change over time.
On June 3rd, 2021, the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People (federal pathway) was published. The federal pathway is the federal government's plan to implement its portion of the goals set forth in the national action plan and advance work on the Calls for Justice and the Calls for Miskotahâ. This document, informed by federal actions leading up to its publication, included several initiatives, programs, and investments from the 2020 Fall Economic Statement and Budget 2021. Like the national action plan, the Federal Pathway is meant to be evergreen, it too continues to evolve to better reflect partner priorities. Since its publication, further investments have been made to advance the Calls for Justice and Calls for Miskotahâ through Budget 2022, Budget 2023, Budget 2024, and other federal funding mechanisms.
The role of the federal government
The National Inquiry and the national action plan each explicitly state the importance of self-determined Indigenous-led solutions for all work related to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. As such, the federal government has endeavored to collaborate with Indigenous partners to ensure that Indigenous governments, communities, organizations, and service providers are properly resourced and supported. To achieve this and successfully implement the commitments made in the Federal Pathway, the federal government continues to:
- work in partnership and build trust with Indigenous partners, families, survivors to contribute to implementing the Calls for Justice, Calls for Miskotahâ, and working towards the national action plan goals
- engage with Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people to advance the implementation of the Calls for Justice and Calls for Miskotahâ by listening and integrating their knowledge, views, and recommendations in the federal government's work
- invest in policies and programs that support the work needed to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people
As it works toward implementing the Calls for Justice, the federal government acknowledges its responsibility to engage with Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, with a specific focus on families and survivors. The federal government also values the priorities of the national action plan's contributing partners when making decisions.
The federal government is committed to ensuring that Indigenous families, survivors, women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people's leadership are included at decision-making tables on issues that impact them and their communities. Although the federal government provides programs and services, and works in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments, its approach to addressing missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people includes directly funding Indigenous governments, organizations, and communities to operate programs and services. The federal government provides project-based and multi-year funding to grassroots organizations and service providers who are well-positioned to deliver initiatives that meet the needs of Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, families, and survivors of violence.
The Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report and Calls for Justice reporting tool
Starting on June 3, 2022, the Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report (APR) is published every June 3rd, to mark the anniversary date of the release of the National Inquiry's Final Report. Led by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, the APR presents the federal government's progress, including associated investments, made in a fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) toward Federal Pathway initiatives and addressing the Calls for Justice.
In response to Indigenous partners' feedback and to improve accessibility of the APR, on January 29, 2025, the federal government published Reporting on the Calls for Justice, a reporting tool that improves navigation of the APR. The tool enables Indigenous partners and communities, researchers, and all Canadians to easily navigate progress by 3 filters (status, theme, and contributing federal department or agency). The Calls for Justice reporting tool will be updated annually, following the publication of each APR, and will be reviewed for improvements to its functionality.