Funding for Indigenous Students
We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.
2015, TRC Final Report
Why It’s Necessary
As mentioned in an earlier post, Indigenous people are less likely to receive a Bachelor’s degree than other students. This could be due to a variety of reasons, including inadequate funding for schools on reserves and for Indigenous students in K-12 education. This issues have been addressed in other Calls to Action, which are discussed here. The issues are all interconnected, and the Educational and Employment gaps that Indigenous people face can make it more difficult for them to afford post-secondary education. Our universities should be inclusive of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives and they should be accessible to Indigenous students. Additional funding to help Indigenous students with post-secondary education fees would help with this.
Progress
There has been some progress, although slow. In 2017, the federal government promised to increase funding to the Post-Secondary Student Support Program by $90 million, as mentioned in an earlier post. As well, in the same year, they committed to reviewing current federal support programs for Indigenous students wanting a post-secondary education, with the help and guidance Indigenous leaders, in order to determine whether they are meeting the needs of students adequately. As well, in 2017, the federal government committed $25 million over 5 years for scholarships from Inspire, which is an Indigenous-led organization that helps Indigenous students fund their post-secondary education and find jobs. However, Indspire has to raise $3 million a year in order to access this federal funding.
In 2019, the Canadian government pledged $824 million over 10 years to meet post-secondary funding commitments for Indigenous students. $327.5 million was pledged to the Post-Secondary over 5 years; $362 million was promised over 10 years for a Metis Nation-led post-secondary education strategy to assist Metis students with funding; $125.5 million was promised over 10 years for a similar Inuit-led strategy; as well, $9 million was promised over 3 years to Inspire (starting in 2019-2020) to help them provide additional scholarships and bursaries for Indigenous students.
There has been some progress with this Call to Action, but it will require continuous funding and action from the Canadian government.