Indigenous Services Canada is getting a failing grade on several fronts from the federal auditor general.
In a scathing report released Tuesday, Karen Hogan found the department made unsatisfactory progress implementing six past audits completed between 2015 and 2022, leaving First Nations facing persistent barriers when accessing health and dental care, safe drinking water and emergency services.
“Unless significant progress is made in addressing these barriers, the federal government may struggle to improve services and program outcomes and to advance reconciliation,” the report says.
This lack of progress came despite the almost doubling of spending on Indigenous services over the last five years, Hogan said in morning testimony at the House of Commons standing committee on public accounts.
“Sustained focus from Indigenous Services Canada to rethink how it delivers programs while collaborating with First Nations to improve their capacity is an important step to resolving the persistent issues,” she told lawmakers in prepared remarks.
Indigenous Services Canada was created in 2017 when the Trudeau government dissolved the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Department and split it in two.
The audit says spending on programs for Indigenous peoples grew by about 84 per cent between 2019-20 and 2023-24, from $13 billion to $24 billion. However the department failed to implement 53 per cent, or more than half, of the auditor general’s recommendations.
Hogan took aim at what her report calls a lack of sustained attention from management, a lack of clarity around what level of service government is supposed to deliver, a failure to help build First Nations capacity to deliver programs themselves, and a passive and siloed approach to supporting communities.
The audit found:
- Continued challenges with access to health services.
- Gaps in assessing the impact of oral health programs.
- Improved measurement and reporting on socio-economic gaps and education.
- Long-standing issues prevented access to safe drinking water.
- Critical gaps persist in emergency management amid growing threats.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is scheduled to join other Liberal cabinet ministers to respond to the audit findings on Tuesday afternoon.
