No federal legislation has been enacted that establishes equal funding for Indigenous K-12 education. The most recent attempt at such a statute, Bill C-33 (the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act), was introduced in 2014 and withdrawn the same year following First Nations opposition. In place of legislation, the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) co-developed a policy and funding approach known as the First Nations K-12 Education Transformation, implemented as of April 1, 2019. This approach replaced outdated proposal-based programs with Interim Regional Funding Formulas (IRFFs) intended to bring on-reserve funding into comparability with provincial systems and created a mechanism for First Nations to negotiate Regional Education Agreements (REAs). Total federal funding for First Nations K-12 education on reserve has increased by 112% between 2015-16 and 2024-25.
Status is recorded as Active (Partial) because the activity in this area is substantive and ongoing, but it does not meet what Call 16 asks for as written. The K-12 Education Transformation is a policy framework, not legislation. The Anishinabek Nation Education Agreement Act (2017) is the only federal statute giving force of law to a First Nations K-12 education arrangement, and it covers 23 Anishinabek First Nations in Ontario rather than establishing a general statutory entitlement to equal funding. The AFN’s January 2025 Costing Analysis Report concludes that provincial funding comparability alone is insufficient to achieve substantive equality for First Nations students, that REA negotiations have stalled due to a lack of allocated funding, and that Canada is not meeting its fiduciary duty to adequately fund First Nations education.