Concerns in Nunavut about future of program that supports Inuit children as funding set to end

Concerns are growing in Nunavut over the future of a federal program that supports Inuit children across Canada. 

First launched in 2017, funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative is currently set to expire at the end of March. 

In 2023-2024, almost 6,000 children from Nunavut accessed the program, according to Indigenous Services Canada, the department that administers the program. A total of $390 million has been spent on the program to date. 

Though nothing has been officially confirmed about the program's future, Nunavut's MP and others are pushing for the program to continue. 

The Inuit Child First Initiative provides social, health and educational support to all Inuit children in Canada. All children who are recognized by an Inuit land claim organization qualify. 

Nunavut hamlets have also begun to administer the funds themselves, using it to start things like grocery voucher programs for families. 

'Detrimental' for families if funding stops 

Lori Idlout, the territory's MP, recently wrote a letter to all of Nunavut's mayors and its premier, expressing concerns over the future of the program and urging them to extend it. 

"It will be so detrimental to the well-being of Nunavummiut, of which so many already struggle, who are forced to already live in poverty," Idlout told CBC News. 

"There are far too many families that don't have access to employment and don't have access to regular income," she added. "The most impacted families will be those in poverty and they are very much concerned about this program ending." 

In a statement, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu told CBC News the government is working with Inuit partners on a long-term approach to the initiative and they share people's concerns over its future. 

They also blamed opposition parties for "blocking" funding, by promising to bring down the government through a non-confidence vote when Parliament returns on March 24. 

"The renewal and continuation of Inuit CFI [Child First initiative] depends on supply being approved through Parliament," the spokesperson wrote. 

Government 'deeply committed' to program

When asked by CBC about the future of the program on his visit to Iqaluit this week, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Minister Gary Anandasangaree couldn't say either way what will happen. 

"We are deeply committed to this program ... there are some limitations because Parliament is not sitting, so this needs to go through a budgetary process," he said. 

"We recognize how it has impacted families in a very positive way, particularly children, and we will be working with our partners to ensure that there's continuity."

Roger Beaudry, the chief economic development officer with the Hamlet of Sanirajak, Nunavut, said the program has made a noticeable difference in that community. 

"I see less people going around to houses looking for coffee … trying to borrow something," Beaudry said. "People are more confident, more self-sufficient, more content."

He also noted that it became easier since the hamlet started administering the program because before that, people needed phone and internet to apply for it through a federal website.