Human Rights Tribunal set to deliver verdict on First Nations child welfare deal

By Canadian Press on March 30, 2026.

OTTAWA — The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is expected to release a decision today on a landmark First Nations child welfare deal reached between chiefs in Ontario and the federal government.

The decision could bring an end to a nearly 20-year dispute that began in 2007 when the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society filed a joint human rights complaint

In 2016 the tribunal concluded the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system and ordered reforms.

That work came to a halt when First Nations twice rejected a $47.8-billion federal deal in 2024.

Chiefs in Ontario voted in favour of a separate deal last year, saying they couldn’t wait for a national agreement while children continued to experience the harms of the child welfare system.

First Nations chiefs in Ontario are expected to speak about the decision this afternoon in Toronto, while Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is set to hold a press conference in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press