Infrastructure Funding Gap for First Nations a Growing Concern

In her mandate letter, the Minister of Indigenous Services was tasked with the goal of working “…to eliminate all remaining long-term drinking water advisories, and closing the infrastructure gap by 2030, with a focus on building sustainable and affordable housing.” This is a laudable goal, but what exactly is the infrastructure gap felt by First Nations, what is required to achieve the goal of closing this gap, and is the government actually moving towards achieving this goal?

On the first point, simply put, the infrastructure gap between First Nations and non-Indigenous communities can best be described by what they have access to, and more importantly, what they don’t. Clean drinking water, for example, is one of the most visible divides between First Nations and non-Indigenous communities, so much so that we’ve been talking about eliminating boil water advisories on reserve for decades, and that the issue is so persistent it appeared in the Minister’s mandate letter. Although eliminating boil water advisories is vital, it remains one of the most critical infrastructure gaps for 28 First Nation communities across Canada.

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has recently released a report that explores exactly how much the Federal government needs to spend to close the infrastructure gap, and the amount is frankly staggering. In their report, the AFN presumes that the Federal government would need to invest $349.2 billion to meet the calls of the Minister of Indigenous Services’ mandate letter to close that gap by 2030. A huge sum of money, for certain, but those numbers are meant to account for successive governments over the course of our nation’s history refusing to meet the needs of First Nations people. The report acts as a sort of budget request to the Federal government to help guide where these critical infrastructure gaps lay. Again, these aren’t requests for funding that go beyond what non-Indigenous Canadians have access to, this is a costing of what would bring First Nations communities in line with the same level of infrastructure and access to services received in non-Indigenous communities.

So where would these investments need to be placed, and how is the government currently doing to reduce the infrastructure gap? AFN has fully costed this, and indicate the investments that would be required under 10 categories, include: $12.6 billion in education; $35.5 billion for yearly road access; $30.9 billion for climate adaptation; $12.7 billion to achieve net zero emissions; $1.6 billion for accessibility; $135.1 billion for housing; $59.5 billion for infrastructure (more specifically, ports, transportation infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, etc.); $5.2 billion for digital connectivity; $0.7 billion for remaining critical drinking water advisories; and $55.4 billion for 401 First Nations direct asks already made to Indigenous Services Canada (which includes funding for cultural centres, social programs, recreational assets like parks, etc.)

While the Minister maintains that she will meet the goal set out in her mandate letter, the reality is that more investments are needed. The government isn’t keeping pace with what’s necessary on First Nations housing, with documents last year showing they’ve spent only $2.37 billion between 2015 and early 2023, far short of what the AFN states is necessary. Budget 2024 proposed to invest just “…$918 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to accelerate work in narrowing First Nations, Inuit, and Métis housing and infrastructure gaps.”

These investments aren’t nearly enough. And to be clear, they would be investments. Infrastructure spending has traditionally been one of the best things a government can spend money on, creating jobs and jumpstarting local economies. Auditor General Karen Hogan recently published a report that indicates people in First Nations communities are four times more likely to live in crowded housing and six times more likely to live in housing in need of major repairs than non‑Indigenous people. This is unacceptable.

Closing the housing and infrastructure gaps on First Nations communities is vital. It’s time for the Minister of Indigenous Services to follow her mandate and for the Federal government to prioritize infrastructure investments in First Nation communities.