Our commitment to Indigenous reconciliation-July 2026

Calls to Action

Transforming the child welfare system to end violence against Indigenous children, women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people 

Because of the ongoing discrimination and significant harms that Canada’s child welfare system perpetuates against Indigenous children and families, child welfare advocates and Indigenous leaders refer to it as the “modern-day residential school system.” The stark evidence that backs up their assessment is clear — there are more Indigenous children in the child welfare system now than there were at the height of the residential school system. In 2021, 54% of children in foster care in Canada were Indigenous even though Indigenous children made up 7.7% of the child population. Indigenous children are 17 times more likely to be removed from their families and placed out-of-home than non-Indigenous children.

Indigenous children who end up in the care of government are at a greater risk of harm because of their historical and ongoing displacement from their traditional homelands and disconnection from their culture and languages. “We need to understand that these children often have traumatic experiences before they come into care but then often in the care system, because it is so under resourced, those kids have additional traumas, which predisposes them to other types of risk,” said Dr. Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society.

In its 2023 report, the Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) found that 65% of young people reported lost or missing in BC were Indigenous; Indigenous females were over-represented among the lost or missing. For many children and youth, there was a pattern of ineffective services that failed to meet their needs and violated their rights to adequate care, protection and to be heard. The report linked the sense of “unbelonging” experienced by children in the child welfare system to a greater risk of substance use, mental health crisis, violence and sexual exploitation.

The link between the child welfare system and violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people

“Child welfare is one of the primary structural drivers of violence against Indigenous women, and we have to be bold enough to say that,” says Joni Conlon, Executive Director of Our Children Our Way Secretariat. “The system itself can be seen as an act of violence against Indigenous women.”

Government child welfare policies are historically rooted in colonial, racist philosophies aimed at dismantling Indigenous relationships, families, and communities. The mass apprehension of Indigenous children during the “Sixties Scoop” was based on assumptions about Indigenous women being unfit mothers — including those who were seeking help in fleeing violence. The findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the reports produced by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and the implementation of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples all point to a connection between the Missing and Murdered Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA crisis and the child welfare response.

The trauma experienced by Indigenous children from the residential school system and the Sixties Scoop has left generations of Indigenous children without parenting models and the long-lasting psychological impacts of abuse.

The devastating impacts of the historic and ongoing separation of Indigenous children from their families is reflected in the disproportionate amount of violence experienced by Indigenous women. A recent Statistics Canada study found that:

• Indigenous women were more likely than non-Indigenous women to experience childhood physical or sexual abuse by an adult during childhood and to have experienced harsh parenting.
• 81% of Indigenous women who had been in the child-welfare system had been physically or sexually assaulted over their lifetime.

The removal of children by child welfare services is associated with negative health outcomes for parents, including poor mental health (e.g., suicidality, depression, and anxiety), substance use, and premature mortality. Recent research has identified a higher risk of harm for Indigenous women — a 2026 study found that the risk of mortality (i.e., from suicide, overdose) associated with child removal for First Nations mothers was more than four times higher than for non-First Nations mothers.

Our Children Our Way: leading system transformation through advocacy and cultural safety

The Indigenous Child and Family Services Directors (ICFSD) Our Children Our Way Society represents Indigenous Child and Family Services Agencies (ICFSAs) in British Columbia. ICFSAs were created to prevent the removal of children from their communities and provide culturally appropriate services (See Call to Action 1.ii). There are currently 24 First Nations, Inuit and Métis ICFSAs serving more than half of all Indigenous children and youth in care across the province.

Our Children Our Way (OCOW) Society supports Indigenous Nations’ visions for jurisdiction and self-government by providing a collective and expert voice on Indigenous child and family well-being matters. OCOW advocates for systemic changes to policy, practice, legislation, and funding to ensure the best interests of Indigenous children are being met. OCOW works collaboratively with federal and provincial governments to build and enhance child and family service delivery, including the implementation of the Calls for Justice 12.1 – 12.15.

“The over-representation of Indigenous children in care across Turtle Island is largely because of the systems that support [child welfare],” says Joni. “[The systems] come with an intervention lens. They do not come with that prevention lens of how we bolster and strengthen the family as opposed to penalizing, over-surveilling, and in essence, perpetuating violence against women. I think it is important to identify the systemic issue rather than blaming individuals.”

Joni continues, “Identity and belonging are at the heart of children’s well-being. Our responsibility is to remove the barriers created by colonial systems and ensure that families have what they need to stay connected to their homelands, cultures, and Nations. When communities are resourced to lead their own child and family well-being, families are stronger, children are safer, and future generations can thrive.” 

A pivotal time in national child welfare reform: recent milestones

In 2007, Dr. Cindy Blackstock from the First Nations and Family Caring Society, along with the Assembly of First Nations, filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. They argued that the federal government funding for child welfare on reserves is much lower than provincial government support for children off reserves even though on-reserve needs are greater and contributes to the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system.

In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) ruled that Canada discriminates against First Nations children on reserves by failing to provide the same level of child welfare services that exist elsewhere. The Tribunal ordered the federal government to end discrimination and take measures to redress and prevent it, redesign the child welfare system and its funding model, and ensure First Nations are given culturally appropriate services.

In 2019, An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families became law. The Act affirmed the rights of Indigenous governments and organizations to exercise jurisdiction over their children and families and develop policies and laws based on their histories and cultures. The Act also created a set of National Standards that must apply when working with Indigenous children, youth and families. “[The Act] no longer was focused just simply on the physical safety of a child, but it really was about the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical safety of a child, along with supporting culture, identity, belonging, familial connections and sibling solidarity,” says Joni.

Joni says, “This is a pivotal moment in our history. More Indigenous Nations now have pathways to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services and give effect to their own laws, traditions, and governance. That is not about creating something new — it is about restoring and recognizing what Indigenous Peoples have always known: our children thrive when they are raised within their families, cultures, languages, and Nations. Indigenous communities have always had the knowledge to care for their children. Our responsibility now is to ensure they have the recognition, resources, and support to fully exercise that authority.”

There are currently two plans before the Tribunal to end discrimination in the child welfare system: the Loving Justice Plan (LJP), submitted by the National Chiefs’ Children’s Committee (NCCC), and Canada’s National First Nations Child and Family Services Long-Term Reform Plan.

“The number of Indigenous children in care Is largely preventable,” says Joni. “There are things that we can do to support family well-being and women, who are often the primary caregivers of children. When women are supported with housing, culturally grounded services, community care, and family preservation, we reduce the conditions that create vulnerability and crisis. The plans address how we get upstream so that we can front load prevention services and break down barriers so that there’s access to more supports.”

The Tribunal will review the plans to determine whether, based on its 2016 ruling, they meet its orders; it may choose one plan or make orders based on a mixture of the two. This July, the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs in Assembly will meet and vote on the plans to determine which plan, or mixture of plans, they will support and move forward on.

For more information, visit Our Children Our Way.

Register for the 2026 Our Children Our Way National Conference: Amplifying Children and Youth Voices.