Indigenous child welfare

Canada has a decentralized child welfare system that consists of 13 Canadian provincial and territorial child welfare systems. In addition, there exists Métis, First Nations and urban Indigenous child and family service agencies that are to varying degrees affected by federal policies and funding models.

Most commonly, Indigenous child welfare agencies have signed agreements with either the federal or both the federal and provincial governments that authorizes them to provide the full range of child protection services and receive federal funding to do so.

For more information about First Nations child welfare, see Denouncing the Continued Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in Canadian Child Welfare.

For information on the First Nations human rights complaint case against the federal government for under-funding child welfare services on-reserve: I am a witness.

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Kiskisik Awasisak: Remember the Children. Understanding the Overrepresentation of First Nations Children in the Child Welfare System

Sinha, Vandna
Trocmé, Nico
Fallon, Barbara
MacLaurin, Bruce
Fast, Elizabeth
Prokop, Shelley Thomas
et al.

2011
La composante Premières Nations de l’Étude Canadienne sur l'incidence des signalements de cas de violence et de négligence envers les enfants : Une approche axée sur le renforcement des capacités dans le cadre d’une recherche nationale appliquée [...]

Sinha, Vandna
Fast, Elizabeth
Trocmé, Nico
Fallon, Barbara
MacLaurin, Bruce
 

2010
Leadership Development Forums in Aboriginal Child Welfare: Making our Hearts Sing in Alberta

Lafrance, Jean
Bastien, Betty
Bodor, Ralph
Ayala, Jessica

2006
Legislation, Regulation and Soft Law

Bissett, T.

2025
Living Arrangements of Aboriginal Children Aged 14 and Under

Turner, Annie

2016
Long-term depression and suicidal ideation outcomes subsequent to emancipation from foster care: Pathways to psychiatric risk in the Métis population

Kaspar, Violet

2014
Long-term depression and suicidal ideation outcomes subsequent to emancipation from foster care: Pathways to psychiatric risk in the Métis population.

Kaspar, Violet

2014
Long-term Trends in Out of Home Care for On-reserve First Nations Children

Jones, Allison 
Sinha, Vandna 

2015
Loving Our Children: Finding What Works for First Nations Families

Blackstock, C., Trocmé, N., & Sullivan, S.

2024
Management of Aboriginal Child Protection Services

Doyle, John

2008