First Nations Child & Family Caring Society: 2025 CHRT 80 Information Sheet
Press Release
Overview
On August 20, 2025, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) issued 2025 CHRT 80, ordering Canada, along with the co-complainants in First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada, to move forward on national First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) long-term reform without further delay. The order requires the parties to submit their remedies for national long-term reform, created either separately or together, within four months of this ruling. This shall happen concurrently and separately from the Ontario long-term Final Agreement (OFA).
This order repeats the Tribunal’s assertion that its landmark 2016 decision (2016 CHRT 2) is a permanent order against Canada to immediately cease the discrimination against First Nations children and ensure that it does not recur. In 2025 CHRT 80, the Tribunal reminds Canada that this case is about children, and that beyond providing adequate funding, there is a need to refocus the policy of the program to respect human rights principles in the best interests of First Nations children and in accordance with section 48.9(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Tribunal also reiterates that its orders for Canada to cease its discriminatory conduct are the same as an injunction and are intended to protect multiple generations of First Nations children. These are final orders that cannot be subsequently modified by the current Panel or by future members.
Details
In 2025 CHRT 80, the Tribunal rejects Canada’s submission to put aside consultation between Canada, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and the Caring Society on the national long-term reform of the FNCFS Program until the Tribunal’s analysis of the OFA, which is conditional on Tribunal approval. The Tribunal argues that delaying the national FNCFS long-term reform proceedings until the OFA has been decided is unreasonable and not in the best interests of First Nations children and families
outside Ontario. The Tribunal also notes their disagreement with Canada’s submission that, if approved, the OFA could serve as a precedent for the National long-term reform agreement.
The Tribunal makes clear that they value all expert viewpoints of First Nations, but states that there are limits to the number of First Nations, experts, agencies, and organizations it can hear from. Thus, the Tribunal is relying on the Caring Society, the AFN, and the National Children’s Chiefs Commission (NCCC) to carry out the required consultation and bring solutions forward that accommodate regional and First Nations interests within the scope of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction and direction.
In order to avoid the possibility of an imposed final solution, the Tribunal urges Canada to return to the negotiation table, listen to the NCCC and the co-complainants, and consider the research, experts, and evidence-informed long-term solutions prepared by the Caring Society and the AFN. If Canada refuses to return to the table, the Tribunal will hear the Caring Society and AFN’s evidence-based solutions (which represent the NCCC and multiple First Nations’ viewpoints) and Canada’s plans separately, and then choose between the two long-term reform order requests.
The Tribunal set out a non-exhaustive list of parameters that will guide the Tribunal’s decision-making regarding long-term reform remedies proposed by the the parties. These remedies shall, the Tribunal states:
IHT5
