N.W.T. faces uncertainty over changes to Jordan's Principle, which funds 60% of school support assistants

The Northwest Territories government is working with territorial school authorities to understand how a federal decision to narrow Jordan's Principle eligibility criteria will affect their ability to pay for additional school support assistants.

Jordan's Principle currently pays for roughly two thirds of schools' support assistant staff, according to data from the territory's education department.

The department said it is working with educators in the N.W.T. to "confirm the impacts" of sweeping changes the federal government announced last week to address a 140,000-case backlog. 

In an operational bulletin, Indigenous Services Canada says a legal analysis prompted it to end funding for school-related requests across the country "unless linked to the specific health, social or educational need of the First Nations child."

"Supports to school boards off-reserve and private schools will be redirected to provincial school boards, or other existing provincial and federally-funded programs," it reads.

School boards in Alberta and Saskatchewan previously announced cuts to their support staff because funds usually applied for through Jordan's Principle never arrived. 

N.W.T. Teachers Association (NWTTA) president Rita Mueller said Jordan's Principle funding provides "essential" one-on-one support for students based on their individual needs, and to deliver the curriculum of multiple grade levels in a single classroom. 

"We have a teacher responsible for two, three, sometimes four grade levels in one classroom," Mueller said. 

While the NWTTA is parsing out the details of the Jordan's Principle changes, Mueller said any changes to the program are "likely to have an impact at the school level."

"Schools and children really benefit when we have adults in the school that are caring and focused on the well-being of children and who want to help," she said.

'Our children deserve those services'

In an email, the department said Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland will meet with federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu about how the changes will affect N.W.T. students.

Asked whether the N.W.T. education department would pay for support assistant positions beyond those funded in the territorial budget, the department said it continues to meet with education authorities about their concerns.

"Those perspectives will directly inform our discussion with Minister Hajdu's office," the department states.

The territory's education minister was not available for an interview this week.

Mueller said she was "hopeful" to hear that the education department and the federal minister will meet. She said Jordan's Principle funding helps give students the support they need and fosters a sense of belonging in schools. 

"We need that continued support. Our children deserve those services."

Feds continue to fight non-compliance ruling

Jordan's Principle emerged from a 2007 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal complaint focusing on the treatment of five-year-old Jordan River Anderson, a boy with multiple disabilities. He died in hospital while the Manitoba and federal governments argued over who should pay for his home care on Norway House Cree First Nation. 

The ruling established a child-first principle aimed at timely access to care, education and health supports. The government of first contact pays for immediate needs of First Nations children, and governments can later battle over who should pay.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director for the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, filed a non-compliance motion against Canada at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in December 2023 over a significant backlog of cases.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered the federal government to act on a backlog of roughly 140,000 cases. Canada sought a judicial review of that order this past December. 

Blackstock told CBC the narrowing of eligibility is not based on evidence. 

"You can't behave your way into non-compliance and then use that non-compliance to harm children," she told the CBC's The Trailbreaker last week. 

Jordan's Principle funds 60 per cent of N.W.T. support assistants

CBC News asked Indigenous Services Canada for the specific eligibility criteria for educational support assistants under Jordan's Principle. Department spokesperson Jennifer Cooper pointed to the government's website, which states eligible educational requests include school supplies, tutoring, teaching assistants on-reserve, assessments and screenings, assistive technologies and special school transportation.

As of last week, there were 16 active requests for funding for educational assistants in N.W.T, four in the Yukon, and none in Nunavut, said Cooper.

The N.W.T. calculates that it should fund one support assistant position for every 64 children in junior kindergarten up to Grade 12 per community. 

In 2021, 133 support assistants were funded by the territorial government and 205 positions were funded by Jordan's Principle. 

In 2024, the education department funded 127 support assistants. The other 205 were funded by Jordan's Principle. 

The territorial government alone funds 21.6 positions in the Beaufort Delta, 6.5 in the Dehcho, 12.6 in the Tlicho region, 7.7 in the Sahtu, and 18.7 in the South Slave. Ndilǫ has 2.1 positions funded, and Dettah has .72 of a position. Yellowknife District No. 1 has 32.6 and Yellowknife Catholic schools have 21 funded positions. 

Asked whether the availability of Jordan's Principle funding influences the education department's budget for support assistants, the department wrote that it "does not adjust funding to education bodies based on other third party funding sources they may have access to."