Advocate says ‘not as many requests’ for care after years of Jordan’s Principle delays

Advocates and health care providers say they remain concerned about First Nations kids seeking services under Jordan’s Principle even after the Canadian government’s recent promise of $1.55 billion in funding.

Randy Littlechild, chair and president of the First Nations Health Consortium (FNHC) in Edmonton, which helps families with Jordan’s Principle applications, said he was pleased to see the funds promised but said there are still significant issues with getting services to children. 

“Even though it is a large amount of money, the $1.55 billion, that’s over the entire country,” Littlechild said. 

He added that if you were to divide those funds between the more than 600 First Nations in Canada, each would receive less than $3 million. 

“I could see that being gobbled up pretty quick,” he said. 

At the end of February, the federal government promised funding for Jordan’s Principle to March 2027 after months of concerns about the program’s future. 

Jordan’s Principle is a legal rule ensuring First Nations kids get timely access to public health and social services without bureaucratic delays over which government (provincial/territorial or federal) should pay for it.

Littlechild said last year the FNHC saw a decrease in funds toward dentists, occupational therapists and educational supports. He added that a backlog in unadjudicated files still needs to be addressed. 

CBC Indigenous has previously reported that there was a backlog of 140,000 requests.  

In a statement regarding the announcement of the new funds, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society called the backlog “a violation of children’s human rights.”

“Jordan’s Principle is not a program of goodwill — it is a court- and [Canadian Human Rights] Tribunal-affirmed legal obligation,” the statement said. 

Littlechild said children in Alberta have seen a decrease in the funding available for them over the past fiscal year, to less than $12 million from around $40 million.

He said it’s led to an alarming change. 

“We’ve noticed that the people are starting to not make as many requests because they’re feeling like it’s not happening,” Littlechild said. 

“Before when everything was going OK, they would make a request and we would give them a response probably within three to four weeks … whereas now it could take six months, sometimes a year.”

Service providers concerned 

Bonnie Cooke, director of audiology at Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC), said the organization was relieved to hear about the new funding but added that the funding alone is not enough to address service concerns. 

SAC surveyed 599 of its members last September and found about 60 per cent had worked with Jordan’s Principle recipients on things like providing speech and language therapy, hearing aids, assistive listening devices, or cochlear implants. 

“For infants and children, any sort of delay in service could be really problematic,” Cooke said.

“There’s sort of a window for language acquisition that’s key in terms of getting the treatment… for speech and audiology services.”

For infants with hearing loss, she said, waits beyond their first three months could jeopardize their language skills for the rest of their lives. 

According to Cooke, delays in care under Jordan’s Principle can sometimes span between 12 and 24 months, although she said some care is delivered more quickly than others. 

Between waiting up to two years for a patient to be approved and months-long waits for payment (Cooke highlighted one provider who said they waited eight to 10 months for reimbursement), delays can discourage care providers from taking Jordan’s Principle patients, she said.

“I know what our members have reported to us in terms of administrative issues like not having a point person to talk to when issues come up; there being a huge delay when they do try to contact someone to sort of get clarity on things,” Cooke said.

“I think there just needs to be a clear process in place.”

Cooke said more also needs to be done to ensure First Nations kids’ access to speech language pathologists, audiologists and communication health assistants — especially in remote locations.