2024-25 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report: Executive Summary

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Introduction

The fourth Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report describes work completed by the Government of Canada to advance its commitments made in the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People for the period from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025.

This executive summary provides an overview of key highlights of progress made in the 2024–25 fiscal year that contribute to the ultimate goal of reducing violence against Indigenous women, girls, 2-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities (2SLGBTQI+), including:

This year's report also includes 7 highlight reports that show progress made this year towards the specific priorities of Families and Survivors, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, urban Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people, and Data as identified by the national action plan's contributing partners.

The Calls for Justice

The national inquiry outlined the path forward to redress the violence that Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people experience through the 231 Calls for Justice. The Calls for Justice are aimed at both government and non-government actors and are wide-ranging, including calls for both long-term systemic changes and short-term immediate actions.

Since 2021, across the federal government, work has been done to advance progress on the Calls for Justice, of which:

Key highlights

Enhancing safety

  • Budget 2024 allocated $1.3 million over 3 years to support engagement, partnership-building, and co-development of the Red Dress Alert Pilot. In October 2024, the Indigenous-led organization Giganawenimaanaanig (name translates to "we all take care of them") provided leadership in its co-development toward implementation.
  • Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada's Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy supported the delivery of Indigenous specific programming in 30 urban communities and 7 regions across Canada for off-reserve, urban and rural supports.
  • 8 newly funded projects and 44 continuing projects, serving the unique needs of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Urban, and 2SLGBTQI+ people were supported by Indigenous Services Canada's (ISC) Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative.
  • Public Safety Canada's Northern and Indigenous Crime Prevention Fund invested in 12 culturally sensitive projects that aim to reduce vulnerability to crime and promote community safety approaches in Indigenous communities, both on- and off-reserve, and in the North.
  • Indigenous-owned Keewatin Railway Company and Tshiuetin Rail Transportation received investments from Transport Canada's Remote Passenger Rail Program to cover operating expenditures, infrastructure upgrades, new assets, and safety improvements.

Community-led survivor-centered healing and wellness supports

  • Justice Canada's Community Support and Healing for Families invested $22.4 million in 32 projects, including distinctions-based investments to projects, to provide culturally grounded, responsive supports to First Nations, Inuit and Métis families going through grief and trauma.
  • ISC provided co-funding for the building and ongoing operational cost of the Aqqusariaq – Nunavut Recovery Centre, while the Government of Nunavut leading on the initiative. Aqqusariaq will lead to comprehensive addictions treatment that integrates both cultural and clinical healing practices that allow Nunavummiut to receive treatment closer to home.

Addressing human trafficking

  • During the third annual National Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting on MMIWG2S+ in January 2025, the former Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, announced Jennifer Richardson as the new chief adviser to the federal government to combat human trafficking. The meeting brought together Indigenous leaders and federal, provincial, and territorial partners and included information sharing and discussions specific to human trafficking.
  • The Métis Nation of Ontario's Wellbeing of Métis and Urban Indigenous Individuals project received funds through ISC's Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative to implement anti-human trafficking and victims services programs, including delivery of culturally relevant and holistic services such as justice programming, violence prevention information and education, safety planning, and culturally relevant referrals for women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ persons at risk of violence, abuse, criminal justice involvement, human trafficking and other harm.

Transforming justice through Indigenous-led approaches

  • On March 25, the Government of Canada released its inaugural federal Indigenous Justice Strategy. This strategy establishes a shared vision and key priorities to guide ongoing collaboration among Indigenous peoples, the federal government, and provincial and territorial partners. Its aim is to advance transformative reforms within the criminal justice system and support the revitalization of Indigenous laws and legal traditions.
  • Justice Canada's Indigenous Justice Program supported Indigenous-led civil and family mediation community-based programs that address community and family conflicts, to prevent their escalation. Budget 2024 renewed funding for civil and family mediation in the amount of $8.7 million over 3 fiscal years 2024–25 to 2026–27 and $2.9 million on-going. The first year of the renewal supported 37 civil and family mediation projects.
  • In 2024–25, $3.5 million provided through Correction Services Canada's Community Reintegration Fund enabled services to support reintegration of federally incarcerated Indigenous people of all genders, while also emphasizing the important role Indigenous communities play in reintegration planning.

Indigenous-led child welfare & protection

  • ISC continued to work in collaboration with partners to support the implementation of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders and reforms of the First Nations Child and Family Services program and the ongoing delivery of the program.
  • In 2024–25, the federal government continued to support the implementation of the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families by:
    • providing capacity-building and engagement funding
    • establishing coordination agreement discussion tables
    • funding the implementation of Indigenous child and family services laws
    • working with Indigenous, provincial, and territorial partners

Culture and language revitalization

  • The We Are Here: Sharing Stories initiative completed digitization of a total of more than 780,900 images of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis holdings at Library and Archives Canada to increase access to its archival and published holdings pertaining to Indigenous culture, heritage and history.
  • In 2024–25, $1.18 million was invested in 26 projects through Library and Archive Canada's Listen, Hear our Voices initiative to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis governments and organizations in digitizing documentary heritage related to Indigenous languages and cultures and building the skills, knowledge and resources to do this work in their communities.
  • In 2024–25, 192 projects received $146.5 million from Canadian Heritage's Indigenous Language Program, funding both pan-Indigenous organizations and distinctions-based First Nations, Métis and Inuit groups, all of which include projects in urban settings.

Housing and infrastructure

  • As of March 31, 2025, the National Housing Strategy has invested $353.5 million, which has been conditionally or financially committed through the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative towards the construction of 37 new shelters and 36 new transitional homes for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people escaping gender-based violence.
  • Budget 2024 announced a renewal of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Local Food Infrastructure Fund to support production-focused projects. Through the 2024–25 funding Call for Proposals, 87 small-scale projects received $5.6 million in food security funding to address food infrastructure inequities across Canada, including Indigenous communities.
  • Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's Universal Broadband Fund is a $3.225 billion initiative that continued to support the expansion of high-speed internet access across Canada, including to rural and remote Indigenous communities. The 2024–25 calls for proposals focused on bringing high-speed Internet access to underserved households in the provinces of Manitoba (July 2024), Saskatchewan (July 2024) and Alberta (October 2024). In 2024–25, investments of $245 million was announced in support of 45 projects.

Economic security, employment and education

  • The Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program provided training and other supports to more than 247,000 Indigenous people, including more than 123,100 women, with more than 97,700 Indigenous people finding employment or returning to school for further training. This includes more than 43,800 women finding employment and 19,000 women returning to school for further training.
  • In 2024–25, the distinctions-based Post-Secondary Education Strategies provided direct, flexible, and culturally relevant supports to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation students, enabling more Indigenous learners to access and succeed in post-secondary education.

Addressing anti-Indigenous racism in public institutions

  • In 2024–25, Canada's Action Plan on Combatting Hate was launched. It invests $273.6 million over 6 years, and $29.3 million ongoing, to tackle hatred from multiple angles to increase support to victims and survivors of incidents of hate, to help communities prevent, address and protect people from hate, to enhance research and data collection, to provide greater resources for law enforcement and to raise public awareness.
  • ISC's Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada's Health Systems initiative continued to strengthen cultural and patient safety for Indigenous people and families seeking health services, including culturally safe reproductive care. Investments supported the development of a toolkit for Indigenous women that included information on patient rights, and provided funding for Indigenous organizations to hire Indigenous health system navigators and patient advocates, in addition to other efforts.

Increasing transparency and accountability to build better relationships with Indigenous partners, families, and survivors, and monitoring progress

  • The Ministerial Special Representative, appointed to provide advice on the implementation of Call for Justice 1.7, presented their Final Report to the former Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, the Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, in March 2024. It was publicly released on June 13, 2024, and made available in Inuktitut, Plains Cree, Western Ojibway, Michif, French, and English.
  • The third National Indigenous-Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting on MMIWG2S+ was held in January 2025. It brought together Indigenous governments and organizations, federal departments, and provincial and territorial representatives to support transparency, strengthen alignment, and elevate community-informed priorities. Key discussion areas at the meeting, additional to exploring strategies to address human trafficking, included continued engagement on the Red Dress Alert pilot, addressing gaps in MMIWG2S+ related data, and local and regional services and efforts, as well as 2SLGBTQI+ experiences and initiatives.

Conclusion

In 2024–25, the Government of Canada has continued its work toward the ultimate goal of ending violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people, advancing the National Action Plan, and progressing work on the Calls for Justice. The 2024–25 Federal Pathway Annual Progress Report highlights significant strides in addressing this crisis through targeted investments and Indigenous-led initiatives, emphasizing a shift towards holistic, community-defined systems of care and accountability.

Reflecting the commitments in the Federal Pathway, in 2024–25, the Government of Canada continued its efforts to have families and survivors, Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people at the centre of this work, to be accountable to them, and all Canadians, in the implementation of the federal pathway and the federal investments contributing to ending the violence towards Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada.

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