Develop a new self-governed approach to delivering health services to Indigenous peoples and reduce health inequities between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians.

What success looks like

New co-developed approaches to Indigenous health services that will be client-centred, culturally relevant and sustainable, resulting in healthier children, families and improved community wellness.

Government's narrative on progress

Since the creation of the Department of Indigenous Services, the government continues, in partnership with Indigenous groups, to transform the way to deliver services to Indigenous peoples and transfer the design, planning and management and delivery of these services to Indigenous organisations. The government's goal is to support increased flexibility and capacity building in Indigenous communities so that they are able to direct and design their own health services and partner more effectively with provincial healthcare systems. This gap in health outcomes can be narrowed, and providing access to quality health care close to home is an essential part of that change. To support the delivery of health services, Budget 2017 announced an investment of $828 million over 5 years to improve a range of health outcomes for First Nations and Inuit. The government is currently working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to co-develop distinctions-based, self-determined and nation-to-nation approaches for health transformation. For example, as an interim measure in committing to and finalizing the Canada-Métis Nation Accord to Achieve Reconciliation, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on August 21, 2018 between Canada and the Métis Nation, committing to the development of a 10-Year Métis Nation Health Accord. Renewing the relationship with the Métis Nation based on recognition of rights, respect, cooperation and partnership, Canada and the Métis National Council signed the Canada-Métis Nation Accord to Achieve Reconciliation, on August 21, 2018, committing to the development of a 10-Year Métis Nation Health Accord. Budget 2018 proposed investment of $6 million over five years to support the Métis Nation in gathering health data and developing a health strategy. Additional investments were announced in Budget 2018, with $1.5 billion over five years, for Indigenous health, starting in 2018–2019, and $149 million per year ongoing thereafter. This amount included $498 million, with $97.6 million per year ongoing, to sustain access to critical medical care and services. Budget 2018 identified $235 million to support work with First Nations partners to transform First Nations health systems by expanding successful models of self-determination so that health programs and services are developed, delivered and controlled by and for First Nations. This investment will also support access to quality and First Nations-controlled health care in remote and isolated James Bay communities as part of the Weeneebayko Area Health Integration Framework Agreement. First Nations are leading processes (in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) to develop models for self-determination in health service-delivery. Memoranda of Understanding/agreements to advance these processes have been, and are being, signed to confirm shared priorities. Other regional engagement efforts are underway across the country to identify strategies for transforming service delivery, including opportunities for increasing Indigenous control over services. In addition to the ongoing implementation of the historic British Columbia Tripartite Framework Agreement, which transferred operational control of health programs and services to the British Columbia First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), the Government of Canada has also invested $10 million to support a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Mental Health and Wellness that was signed in July 2018 with the Province of British Columbia and British Columbia First Nations with matching resources invested by the province and First Nations; these efforts will contribute to innovative and more flexible funding approaches to address the broader social determinants of health. In the North, Budget 2018 identified investments of $27.5 million over five years to support enhanced prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) and latent TB infection in Inuit Nunangat. Each of the four regions in Inuit Nunangat is developing an action plan to eliminate TB among Inuit by 2030, with a reduction of at least 50% of active TB cases by 2025. The Government of Canada provided $500,000 to the government of Nunatsiavut to be used in TB elimination activities. In addition, the government is providing ongoing surge capacity including nurses and epidemiologists, as well as administrative and coordination support for the TB outbreak. Nunavik has recently launched a communication campaign to reach out to youth in particular. The Government of Canada also works closely with the government of Nunavut in their response to a TB outbreak by investing in the purchase of rapid TB diagnostic technology and facilitating timely access to rifapentine, an antibiotic used in the treatment of latent TB. To help streamline the TB elimination work, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami will continue to lead the implementation of the Inuit TB Elimination Framework, in collaboration with the Government of Canada, through the Inuit Public Health Task Group, a subcommittee of the National Inuit Committee on Health. In Budget 2019, the government committed to supporting the construction and ongoing operation of a treatment facility in Nunavut as well as an investment of $50 million over 10 years, starting in 2019–2020, with $5 million per year ongoing, to support ITK’s Inuit-specific approach to address suicide in Inuit communities.

Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.