Tribunal orders Ottawa, First Nations to resume negotiations on child welfare reforms – APTN News

Aug 25, 2025

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is ordering parties involved in a decade-long child welfare case to work together — or separately — to reform the system and stop Ottawa from further discriminating against First Nations children.

The order comes nine years after the tribunal concluded that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system, following a joint 2007 human rights complaint from the Assembly of First Nations and the Caring Society.

The Tribunal said Ottawa’s underfunding was discriminatory because it meant kids living on reserve were given fewer services than those living off reserve. It tasked Canada with reaching an agreement with First Nations to reform the system, and with compensating children who were torn from their families and put in foster care.

Read More: https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/tribunal-orders-ottawa-first-nations-to-resume-negotiations-on-child-welfare-reforms/