OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is expected to announce $1.55 billion in federal funding Thursday to support Jordan’s Principle, a legal principle that states First Nations children must have equal access to social and health services.
MPs unanimously passed a motion in 2007 committing the government to ensuring First Nations children get necessary services without delays caused by jurisdictional squabbles between governments.
The principle is named after Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. Born in 1999 with multiple disabilities, Anderson died at five years old without ever leaving the hospital because federal and provincial governments couldn’t decide who should pay for his at-home care.
The new federal funding, which will last until 2027, comes as Gull-Masty faces criticism for not repealing an operational bulletin released last year that limited the scope of services covered by Jordan’s Principle.
That operational bulletin bars approvals for home renovations, sporting events, international travel, non-medical supports or school-related requests unless they’re required to ensure equality with kids who are not First Nations.
Those changes have been criticized by First Nations leaders who say their communities are now unable to access education and mental health supports for kids who once qualified under Jordan’s Principle.
One First Nations grandmother took the government to Federal Court last year for failing to approve $200,000 in home renovations to remove harmful mould that was causing health issues for her grandchildren.
The Federal Court ruled the department’s denial of that request was unreasonable and the government subsequently lost an appeal at the Federal Court of Appeal last December.
Child welfare advocate Cindy Blackstock has said the changes to Jordan’s Principle were made unilaterally, were not evidence-based and fed into colonial stereotypes.
She said she wants Gull-Masty to walk back those changes and explain what she’ll do if the funding runs out before year’s end.
Citing a backlog of some 130,000 Jordan’s Principle cases, Blackstock — who heads the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and launched the human rights case against Canada that lead to the creation of Jordan’s Principle — said it feels like Indigenous Services is in “chaos” and is failing to meet the needs of First Nations children.
“They are doing everything except taking legitimate measures to address that chaos inside of the department. That is the source of the discrimination,” Blackstock said ahead of the announcement Thursday.
“I’ve heard from leadership who have repeatedly urged the minister to repeal that discriminatory bulletin, to address the backlog in cases and comply with the legal orders. And yet she has chosen not to do so, so far.”
Gull-Masty announced $115 million last week to renew for one year funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative, the Inuit equivalent of Jordan’s Principle.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
