Program directory · Department of Indigenous Services
Indigenous Governance and Capacity Supports
- Department
- Department of Indigenous Services
- Program code
- BYP18 (INDSC)
- Core responsibility
- Indigenous Well-Being and Self-Determination
- In Departmental Plans
- 2023-24 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Indigenous Governance and Capacity Supports Program aligns the Department’s governance capacity programming to strengthen the fabric of Indigenous governments across Canada.
Activities under this Program include: grants and contributions to support the core governance and administration of First Nations governments and institutions, governance capacity development projects for First Nations and Inuit communities, wrap-around community development supports for First Nations, support for First Nations elections and lawmaking under the _Indian Act_ as well as the _First Nations Elections Act_, providing the New Fiscal Relationship Grant to eligible First Nations and First Nations-led services delivery entities, partnerships with First Nations collectives seeking band recognition pursuant to the _Indian Act_, and advancement of data sovereignty to support Indigenous self-determination.
This Program reflects the importance of enabling governance capacity of Indigenous communities both through programming and supporting Indigenous institutions. It includes the distinctions-based Transformational Approach to Indigenous Data to support Indigenous-led statistical functions and/or institutions, work to support internal survey functions, and the co-development of the New Fiscal Relationship. Governance programming supports the transfer of jurisdiction and allows the data holdings to contribute towards First Nations’ self-determination and data sovereignty.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2023-24. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Governance and Capacity | Earlier program (name match, high confidence) | 2018-19 – 2020-21 | $512M |
| Indigenous Governance and Capacity | Earlier program (name match, high confidence) | 2019-20 – 2024-25 | $1.7B |
| Indigenous Governance and Capacity Supports | This program | 2023-24 – 2028-29 | $1.38B |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Appears to replace Indigenous Governance and Capacity | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
| 2024-25 | Indicators dropped: Number of decisions rendered for registration applications under the Indian Act | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned employees (FTEs) 419, against 1,066 in 2025-26 (−61%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $455M, against $672M in 2025-26 (−32%). | 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
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 148 | 2024 | 143 Only 13 First Nations opted in to a New Fiscal Relationship Grant in 2023-24, increasing the cumulative total from 130 to 143. This was shy of the projected 18 new entrants primarily due to delays in First Nations being able to complete their audited financial statements in time to meet Grant eligibility criteria. Capacity to complete audited financial statements at both the First Nations level a… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 160 | 2025 | 160 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 90% | 2024 | 54.6% A variety of factors resulted in the program not meeting the service standard, including a significant increase in applications received with office re-openings, eight days of processing time having been lost during the strike, an estimated 80 hours of processing time lost due to numerous system and network outages, and surge support capacity offered to Regional Offices to ensure decisions to min… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 90% | 2025 | 53.9% A variety of factors resulted in the program not meeting the service standard, including a significant increase in applications received in comparison with past years, delays due to system issues and surge support capacity offered to Regional Offices to help them with workload. In addition, processing times improved over the course of the fiscal year, with 94% processed within service standards i… | Not met |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Not applicable | 2024 | 46,381 | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 191 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 90% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 48% | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | $585M | $692M |
| 2024-25 | $559M | $691M |
| 2025-26 | $672M | — |
| 2026-27 | $455M | — |
| 2027-28 | $404M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $404M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 882 | 1,017 |
| 2024-25 | 926 | 1,046 |
| 2025-26 | 1,066 | — |
| 2026-27 | 419 | — |
| 2027-28 | 396* | — |
| 2028-29 | 396* | — |
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 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 plan | $584,643,016 | $491,619,491 | $460,835,892 | |||
| 2024-25 plan | $558,709,365 | $464,499,963 | $463,670,741 | |||
| 2025-26 plan | $672,115,056 | $485,369,167 | $450,958,781 | |||
| 2026-27 plan | $454,619,940 | $404,228,219 | $404,437,556 | |||
| Actual | $691,886,337 | $691,449,568 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
