2024-25 Highlight report: Métis

Highlights for 2024–25

• The Department of Justice funded the expansion of Indigenous-Led Community-Based Civil and Family Mediation and Program Integrity models into urban Métis contexts, increasing culturally safe legal options (Call for Miskotahâ 41).
• The newly launched Indigenous Justice Strategy prioritized Métis inclusion in federal policy planning for systemic legal reform (Calls for Miskotahâ 8, 16, 41).
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police implemented new trainings as part of the Intercultural Learning Strategy with a focus on Métis-specific cultural safety and distinctions-based training across detachments (Calls for Miskotahâ 6c, 6d, 39).

Immediate action and progress

In 2024–25, federal investments supported the implementation of urgently needed safety and victim services in response to disproportionate risks faced by Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Immediate supports included victim advocacy, mental health counselling, and housing referrals—creating stable environments that disrupted cycles of exploitation and prevented revictimization.

Federal engagement on distinctions-based policing legislation created space for Métis governments to lead conversations about public safety, particularly in regions where mainstream police services have failed to respond adequately to Métis communities' concerns. These actions marked immediate improvements in safety access and justice responsiveness.

Progress toward transformational systemic change

These initiatives directly address systemic issues of invisibility and jurisdictional exclusion known to be root causes of the MMIWG2S+ crisis. Through funding that supports Métis Nations to lead safety programming and participate in legislative co-development, as set out in the Indigenous Justice Strategy, the federal government aims to improve inclusion and the recognition of Indigenous-defined justice models.

By including Métis-identified priorities into national safety planning, these initiatives move beyond one-time interventions and towards safety infrastructure that fosters improved alignment with Métis law, culture, and leadership interests. These actions respond to Weaving Miskotahâ's call for renewed public safety models that protect Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Highlights for 2024–25

• The Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada's Health Systems initiative funded training modules for Métis-specific healthcare practices and anti-racism protocols in partnership with regional Métis organizations (Calls for Miskotahâ 6, 19).
• Indigenous Service Canada advanced the co-development of health legislation and policy options across a Métis-specific track, with active participation from Métis health experts to define culturally grounded system navigation and service standards (Calls for Miskotahâ 9c, 53, 56, 57).
• Indigenous Service Canada's Mental Wellness Strategy funding supported the creation of Métis-led land-based healing retreats, mental health counselling access, and new Métis System Navigator roles (Call for Miskotahâ 53).
• The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative continued to support the Métis Nation Early Learning and Child Care Framework, ensuring that Métis communities could design, deliver, and invest in early childhood education that reflects their distinct culture and values (Calls for Miskotahâ 18, 21, 23).

Immediate action and progress

Federal investments contributed towards immediate health and wellness improvements for Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people navigating trauma, disconnection, and intergenerational harm. These initiatives also supported Métis families by providing safe, culturally affirming spaces for child development.

Progress toward transformational systemic change

By prioritizing distinctions-based mental health, trauma recovery, and early childhood education, these initiatives respond to core systemic drivers of the MMIWG2S+ crisis:

• cultural disconnection
• healthcare discrimination
• the lack of gender- and identity-responsive services

These efforts echo the findings of Weaving Miskotahâ, which identifies culturally grounded wellness as a precondition for safety and justice.

These initiatives contribute to long-term systemic transformation by enabling Métis Nations to lead health and education system development, and by providing federal funding for wellness supports in ways that affirm Métis worldviews, knowledge, and self-determination.

Highlights for 2024–25

• The Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative (ISTHI), jointly funded by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Indigenous Services Canada, has allocated funding to support the construction and operation of new shelters across Canada. As of 2024–25, ISTHI is funding nine projects with Métis partners. ISTHI advances Indigenous governance over shelter systems, strengthens community-led violence prevention infrastructure, and integrates culturally relevant models of care, representing a fundamental shift toward self-determination and approaches to housing (Calls for Miskotahâ 23, 25).
• Through the National Housing Strategy, led by HICC, CMHC continues to deliver programs that invest in the construction and reparation of Métis-led shelters, transitional housing projects, and community-driven housing solutions to address homelessness and housing insecurity (Calls for Miskotahâ 23, 25).
• The Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy provided housing funding that Métis partners can use to support Métis-led construction, repairs, and culturally appropriate shelters, transitional housing, or permanent homes. (Calls for Miskotahâ 19, 23, 25).
• Of the over $52 million invested in Reaching Home's Distinctions-based Approach stream, $10.1 million is Métis-specific funding (Calls for Miskotahâ 8, 18, 23, 25, 26).

Immediate action and progress

In 2024–25, federal investments addressed the urgent housing and economic instability that causes Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people to become vulnerable to violence. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada's Métis Housing Investment enabled culturally grounded, community-directed responses to housing insecurity, including transitional units for youth aging out of care and stable housing for women-led households fleeing violence.

Progress toward transformational systemic change

These initiatives address long-standing structural barriers that have contributed to Métis vulnerability, including housing exclusion, education underfunding, and gendered barriers to economic participation. By restoring Métis governance over housing, education, and entrepreneurship supports, federal actions are contributing to a shift toward Métis-led economic prosperity, justice, and safety infrastructure.

As affirmed in Weaving Miskotahâ, addressing economic marginalization is critical to breaking cycles of systemic harm. These programs lead to improved safety, shelter, education, and higher income for Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Highlights for 2024–25

• In 2024-25, Canadian Heritage provided approximately $11.4 million to the 5 regional Métis organizations, respectively in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, for the implementation of their respective language revitalization strategies.

Immediate action and progress

Supporting Métis-led language revitalization strategies allow for community-driven initiatives to take place such as the development of language resources and instruction activities, language capacity building within organizations and long-term language planning at the regional or local levels.

Progress toward transformational systemic change

These funding models introduce a new funding approach that moves away from an annual call for proposal process and puts decision-making in the hands of regional Métis organizations. These funding models are supported by 5-year funding agreements with these organizations totaling $61.4 million.