Program directory · Department of Indigenous Services
Individual Affairs
- Department
- Department of Indigenous Services
- Program code
- BXL04 (INDSC)
- Core responsibility
- Services and Benefits to Individuals
- In Departmental Plans
- 2020-21 – 2022-23 · Appeared and later dropped
What it does
The First Nations Individual Affairs Program is the lead program for the government’s legislative and administrative responsibilities for registration, membership, status cards, individual trust moneys, estates and band moneys. The work of the Program is diverse and comprehensive, including supporting the Indian Registrar, issuing registration documents such as the Secure Certificate of Indian Status, issuing treaty annuity payments, administering estates as provided for under the Indian Act, and providing access to moneys held in trust by Canada on behalf of First Nation individuals. The Program also contributes to the government’s legislative and administrative responsibilities for management and administration of moneys held in trust for First Nation bands. The expected outcome of the Program is quality and timely services are delivered directly to Indigenous peoples. The rights of individuals are supported through direct client services to determine eligibility for registration under the Indian Act and responding to requests for access to treaty annuities, and in certain instances, moneys held in trust by Canada on behalf of First Nation individuals. The Program maintains a current and accurate Indian Register and issues proof of registration which identifies those eligible to receive programs and services. The Program also ensures that the Government’s responsibilities for estates management under the Indian Act are met.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2019-20. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Affairs | This program | 2019-20 – 2024-25 | $190M |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Employees (FTEs) 384, against 266 in 2019-20 (+44%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $47.9M, against $31.5M in 2019-20 (+52%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Planned spending $33.2M, against $60.4M in 2022-23 (−45%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2024 | Budget 2024 measure “Indian Act Registration Services Renewal”: $55M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2024, PDF page 314 |
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
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 90% | 2021 | 92% The reduction in service standard in 2020-21 (from 94.12% in 2019-20) was due to COVID-19 related delays in processing files, including office closures and mail intake impacts, particularly between March and June 2020. | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 90% | 2022 | 95.3% Improvements were made to the public service standard in October 2021, shifting from 12 to 16 weeks to now 8 to 12 weeks to issues a Secure Certificate of Indian Status. By the end of fiscal year 2021-22, the processing time for a secure status card was under 8 weeks. | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 90% | 2023 | 87.6% In 2022-23, there was a 53% increase in applications received due to the lifting of both COVID-19 health measures and internal measures promoted the acceptance of expired cards, as well as the extended closures of regional and band offices. This resulted in an accumulation of applications that exceeded the service standard by the time they were processed. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | — | $31.5M |
| 2020-21 | $34M | $47.9M |
| 2021-22 | $41.6M | $50.5M |
| 2022-23 | $40.2M | $60.4M |
| 2023-24 | $33.2M* | — |
| 2024-25 | $33.2M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | — | 266 |
| 2020-21 | 339 | 384 |
| 2021-22 | 375 | 396 |
| 2022-23 | 391 | 395 |
| 2023-24 | 336* | — |
| 2024-25 | 336* | — |
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 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 plan | $33,964,229 | $33,430,289 | $33,402,713 | ||
| 2021-22 plan | $41,552,176 | $38,225,781 | $33,138,206 | ||
| 2022-23 plan | $40,236,551 | $33,223,922 | $33,225,589 | ||
| Actual | $47,912,369 | $50,493,073 | $60,397,479 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
