The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD) is a Canadian think-tank based out of the University of Ottawa. The IFSD has been funded by the Province of Ontario to undertake applied research in public finance and its intersection with public administration, politics and public policy.

Led by Kevin Page, Canada’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), IFSD undertakes its work in Canada at all levels of government as well as abroad, leveraging partnerships and key relationships with organizations such as the World Bank, OECD, IMF and US National Governors Association.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT), in its January 2016 decision and subsequent rulings, has found that Canada has used a discriminatory funding approach for FNCFS agencies. The purpose of this project is to develop reliable data collection, analysis and reporting methodology for analyzing the needs of First Nation Child and Family Services Agencies. Specifically, the project will support the implementation of the following Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) orders:

1. Work with experts to develop a reliable data collection, analysis and reporting methodology, as well as ethical research guidelines for analyzing the needs of First Nations Agencies (Order defined in par. 421);
2. Canada is accountable for analyzing the needs assessments and undertake a cost-analysis of the needs of agencies, in consultation with the parties and other experts (Orders defined in pars. 408 and 418).

Read the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling here.
See our project overview. 

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT), in its January 2016 decision and subsequent rulings, has found that Canada has used a discriminatory funding approach for FNCFS agencies.  Canada states it is committed to implementing the orders established by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

You can read the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling here

The IFSD is pleased to be working with First Nations child and family services agencies, National Advisory Committee on First Nations Child and Family Services, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Caring Society, and Indigenous Services Canada on the cost of First Nations child welfare.  

As an affiliate of the University of Ottawa, IFSD is guided by ethical research guidelines respecting Indigenous peoples, the project will follow the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and OCAP principles in all of its work. See our research ethics.

Any information collected from the survey will be shared publicly or with the government only in an anonymized and aggregate form to protect the rights of agencies and communities. The collection and use of this information will follow the OCAP principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession as well as the Tri-Council Policy on Research Ethics.

No, once the survey has been completed and submitted it cannot be edited.

IFSD will produce monthly updates posted on this website.  These written updates can be supplemented with briefings to interested parties by IFSD.  Project results (interim and final) will be published on this website as soon as they are available. 

We invite you to check back for updates.  Should you have any specific questions related to the project and/or its results, please contact us. 

The success of this project depends on your participation.  FNCFS agencies have an historic opportunity in response to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s (CHRT) orders to revisit the program architecture and associated funding for First Nations child welfare.  We need your help to develop a baseline of existing resources (financial, human, programmatic, etc.) in order to measure the gap between the current and desired states of FNCFS agencies.

As experts and practitioners, your support, feedback, and knowledge are invaluable and will be an integral component of the success of this project.  We will look to you as advisors for feedback and commentary as we move throughout the project’s phases.

To complete the survey, you will require your agency’s information for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. 

See how to prepare for the workshop.