Program directory · Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
Management of Litigation and Claims
- Program code
- BWM17 (INAC)
- Core responsibility
- Crown-Indigenous Relations
- In Departmental Plans
- 2026-27 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
This Program addresses historic grievances raised by Indigenous Peoples against the federal government, including specific claims, special claims, and childhood claims. These grievances can arise from past harms related to the administration of land and other First Nation assets, the fulfillment of historic treaties, and abuses experienced by Indigenous people in educational and care settings.
The Program seeks to resolve these claims fairly and efficiently, preferably outside the court system. In doing so, it supports the recognition and respect of Indigenous rights and fulfills the Crown’s outstanding legal obligations. The Program plays a key role in renewing Crown-Indigenous relations by fostering trust, accountability, and reconciliation.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in the Departmental Plans in 2026-27. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management of Litigation and Claims | This program | 2026-27 – 2028-29 | — |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Budget 2025 measure “Ongoing Management of Indigenous Childhood Claims”: $15M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2025, PDF page 284 |
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $1.75B, against $7.41B in 2026-27 (−76%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
No results reported yet.
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≤ 3 | 2027 | — | Planned |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≤ 3 | 2027 | — | Planned |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Not available | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 35 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $7.41B | — |
| 2027-28 | $1.75B* | — |
| 2028-29 | $1.64B* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 172 | — |
| 2027-28 | 172* | — |
| 2028-29 | 172* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 plan | $7,413,659,072 | $1,748,772,919 | $1,637,252,719 |
| Actual |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
