Federal Indigenous spending increased to $40.8 billion under Trudeau - National Post
Participants take part in a Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation event in Saskatoon on Friday, June 19, 2026. Photo by Michelle Berg/Saskatoon StarPhoenix/PostmediaArticle contentIn the decade leading up to 2024/25, inflation-adjusted federal Indigenous spending jumped from $10.3 billion to $40.8 billion, growing seven times faster than overall federal spending, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute.
The independent think tank found that inflation-adjusted federal Indigenous spending increased by an average of 4.3 per cent per year from 1969/70 to 2014/15. But from 2014/15 to 2024/25, average annual Indigenous spending increased 17.1 per cent, not including the “substantial” spending on lawsuits and court settlement payouts.
Broken down by federal spending per province, annual federal Indigenous spending ranges from a low of $73 million in P.E.I. to a high of $8.8 billion in Ontario.
Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
In B.C. in 2024/25, the federal government spent approximately $6.3 billion on program benefits for Indigenous people in the province — an average expenditure of $20,306 per Indigenous person, according to the study.
“Ottawa’s Indigenous spending has skyrocketed in recent years, even more so than general federal spending, which itself has increased substantially,” said Tom Flanagan, co-author of the study and senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.
“Canadians need to understand the magnitude of Ottawa’s Indigenous spending in recent years if they’re ever to properly assess what that additional spending is achieving in terms of results for Indigenous people.”
In former prime minster Justin Trudeau’s first major promise as part of his 2015 election campaign, he said that a Liberal government would invest a total of $2.6 billion in First Nations education.
Meanwhile, previous Fraser Institute research from 2024 found that federal Indigenous spending almost tripled under Trudeau, from $11 billion in 2015 to a projected $32 billion.
And in the spring economic update in April, the Carney government announced $601 million for culturally relevant elementary and secondary education on reserve, and $700 million over six years to support Indigenous communities implementing jurisdiction for child and family services.
