How are we working together?
The extensive scope of Action 4.11 and its 10 sub-actions lead to a wide range of approaches to engagement, with the recognition and respect for Indigenous knowledge systems being a key element of all the approaches which are largely distinctions-based.
While the Ministry of Health and Indigenous partners held limited consultation and engagement on service development and delivery throughout the past year, various community-based projects continued to roll out and collaboration on monitoring and evaluation continues to be explored.
The implementation of Crisis Response, Community Led (CRCL) teams in partnership with local non-profit operators is led by the Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division. Three CRCL teams are operating with local Indigenous partners: K’ómoks First Nation, Prince George Native Friendship Centre and Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society. Future updates to this component of the action will be provided when relevant program changes occur in the future.
The Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA) and Ktunaxa Nation are leading Complex Care Housing (CCH) projects, and Nuxalk First Nation, Tla’amin Nation, Kekinow Native Housing Society and Lu’ma Native Housing Society have partnered with health authorities to co-lead CCH projects.
In September 2025, Ministry of Health staff attended an AHMA-led group meeting (the Indigenous Collaboration Table) comprised of CCH Indigenous operators to share information on project progress, policy development and opportunities for further engagement on issues such as resident rights, staffing and service delivery requirements.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General continues to contract and engage with Indigenous service providers for sexual assault programs, as well as the Indian Residential School Survivor Society for the delivery of their crisis line.
Gambling Support BC has contracted five regional service providers and assigned regional engagement plans to connect with First Nations, Métis Chartered Communities, urban and away-from-home Indigenous populations and Indigenous serving partners. The goal of this approach is to build relationships and socialize program services among the Indigenous populations of B.C. Currently, contracted service providers are meeting their quarterly engagement targets and building meaningful relationships, evidenced by the significant increase in community or individual driven service requests since this approach was initiated in October 2023.These community driven service requests compelled Gambling Service BC to re-evaluate service delivery design and make necessary changes at the end of March 2026, to better meet community readiness needs.
Collaboration with First Nations through ongoing dialogue on the Intervention Circle model is challenging but remains ongoing.
The BC Coroners Service continues to engage with Indigenous partners through national forums, ensuring community-led approaches guide site search efforts. Input from survivors and technical experts informs trauma-informed practices, while participation in multijurisdictional panels supports shared learning and coordination while respecting regional distinctions and cultural protocols.
The BC Coroners Service is also working with BC Archives and First Nations communities to clarify roles and responsibilities around coronial records. Indigenous-led investigations inform archival access needs and guidance from First Nations is shaping respectful documentation and potential exhumation protocols. In June 2025, at the 7th Provincial Gathering for First Nations investigating the sites of former Indian Residential Schools and Indian Hospitals in B.C., input from Indigenous leaders is directly informing planning and coordination efforts. This has fostered mutual understanding and highlighted obstacles such as data access and jurisdictional clarity, which are being addressed collaboratively. This collaboration reflects a distinctions-based approach and supports culturally safe practices.
Are there challenges?
Several challenges continue to affect full implementation of Action 4.11. Resource and financial constraints limit consistent responsiveness, and Indigenous partners have highlighted the need for more timely support and information-sharing.
Tracking Indigenous participation across programs—such as Supported Rent Supplement, Enhanced Health in Supportive Housing, Urgent Homelessness Response, and encampment response initiatives— remains difficult.
Staffing shortages are also impacting progress. Recruitment for Complex Care Housing (CCH) is ongoing, and service expansion depends on finding qualified personnel. In addition, some housing projects were repaced due to fiscal pressures.
Gambling Support BC faces limited capacity within its Indigenous service stream, constraining its ability to expand services and engagement. Although Indigenous populations experience higher rates of problem gambling, they remain underrepresented among clients. Increased outreach has driven higher demand, placing further strain on resources. Challenges also include filling vacancies among contracted service providers, resulting in service gaps.
Implementation of Intervention Circles is hindered by limited funding for outreach, travel restrictions, and capacity constraints among community partners. Additional barriers include limited trust between First Nations and policing partners, as well as connectivity challenges in remote communities.
The BC Coroners Service has faced constraints in capacity and travel funding, limiting participation in national forums and engagement with Indigenous partners. These limitations affect relationship-building and sustained collaboration.
Similarly, staffing limitations and competing priorities have slowed progress in formalizing collaboration with BC Archives. While initial discussions have been positive, further work requires dedicated resources to ensure culturally safe and appropriate access to records.
Highlights
A wide variety of innovative and meaningful partnerships, programs and initiatives contribute to the advancement of Action 4.11. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General provides stable, annual funding to 75 sexual assault services programs across the province, 22 of which are Indigenous-focused. This includes five centres for sexual-assault victims, one existing in Victoria and four new centres which are providing victim services and are working with police and health authorities to become fully operational. The centres provide wraparound services to survivors of sexual assault, including trauma-informed space for police interviews and medical forensic examinations among other services available if the survivor chooses them. The new programs and centres are survivor-centred, trauma-informed, inclusive and culturally safe.
With funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General has supported enhancement of the Indian Residential School Survivor Society’s existing crisis line providing support to Indian Residential School survivors, students and intergenerational survivors, as well as support for families impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The crisis line now provides province-wide and specialized gender-based violence crisis line response, including risk assessment, immediate safety planning and addressing the unique needs of Indigenous survivors of gender-based violence.
The Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, regional health authorities and non-profit partners, continues to deliver health supports through the Supported Rent Supplement, Enhanced Health in Supportive Housing, Urgent Homelessness Response, Homeless Encampment Action Response Team and the Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing programs.
As of March 31, 2026, 31 CCH projects are operating; nine of them are Indigenous led or co-led.
Gambling Support BC increased the Indigenous Service Stream budget to $750,000 for contracted service providers to support communities in addressing gambling related harms.
Intervention Circle outreach to First Nations continues. In 2025, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General provided $100,000 in capacity building grants to support the implementation of Intervention Circles in Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation and the N’Quatqua First Nation. There are two active Intervention Circles led by the Esk’etemc First Nation and Witset First Nation, with an additional three under implementation being led by Gitanmaax Band, Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation and N’Quatqua First Nation.
In July 2025, Chief Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan was invited to participate as a speaker at the National Site Search Forum, hosted by Nishnawbe Aski Nation – a regional political organization representing 49 First Nation communities across Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 territories in Northern Ontario. Dr. Baidwan participated on a multijurisdictional panel of chief coroners and medical examiners to support the national coordination of residential school site searches. The forum brought together technical experts, community leads, survivors and Indigenous organizations engaged in searches for missing children and unmarked graves in support of community-led and trauma-informed approaches to the investigation of former residential institution sites across Canada.
In support of the BC Coroners Service’s broader efforts to align with Indigenous communities in developing a coordinated and respectful approach to records access, documentation, and potential exhumation work, Senior Deputy Chief Coroner Vince Stancato met with the Director of Archives at the Royal BC Museum. BC Archives shared details regarding the research assistance they have been providing to lead First Nations communities engaged in site investigations and the potential archival transfer of pre-1970 coronial records in accordance with the Coroners Service Operational Records Classification System. This meeting was a critical step for improved collaboration, with the goal of ensuring accurate and respectful access to historical information.
In June 2025, Senior Deputy Chief Coroner Vince Stancato met with 21 lead First Nations Communities at the 7th Provincial Gathering for First Nations to review and develop and action plan related to the investigation of former Indian Residencial School sites across B.C.
Previous years’ progress
Highlights
A wide variety of innovative and meaningful partnerships, programs and initiatives that are underway or have been completed throughout 2024/25 and are contributing to the advancement of Action 4.11, including: the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General provides annual funding to 70 Sexual Assault Services Programs across B.C., 22 of which are Indigenous focused and five Sexual Assault Centres located in Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, Kamloops and Prince George.
With funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada, the ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General has supported enhancement of the Indian Residential School Survivor Society’s crisis line to provide support to survivors of gender-based violence.
The Enhanced Health in Supportive Housing Program is in the early stages of planning. The First Nations Health Authority and Métis Nation BC are engaged to inform implementation and ensure regional programs include appropriate elements to support First Nation and Métis clients. Regional health authorities will be required to incorporate traditional wellness supports into their program designs, in collaboration with First Nation and Métis partners.
Gambling Support BC’s contracted service providers supported 1,165 direct service engagements, including events, workshops, meetings, and presentations, reaching an estimated 27,500 participants between April and December 31, 2024. The Indigenous stream therapeutic counsellors have seen an intake of 70 private individual clients and 35 therapeutic group sessions offered in community.
To ensure ongoing success, and to respect the community’s long-term goals, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General continues to work closely with the Esk’etemc First Nation’s leadership following the launch of the Esk’etemc Intervention Circle in July 2023. Capacity building grants of $50,000 have been given to Witset First Nation and the Gitanmaax Band to establish Intervention Circles in their communities. Both are moving into the early training phase in preparation for implementation.
In Spring 2024, Dr. Nel Wieman, Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority, spoke at two BC Coroners Service employee conferences on advancing cultural safety and humility across B.C. Dr. Wieman spoke to how the BC Coroners Service has adjusted policies and practices to enable First Nations’ traditional laws, protocols and practices; on ways to continue to ensure family members are kept informed during and following a death investigation; and ensuring that cultural and trauma informed training continues for all coroners.
In signing the MOU with the Williams Lake First Nation, the BC Coroners Service committed to supporting and working with the Nation to co-design a culturally safe and appropriate process for the disinterment, examination, and identification of human remains in a manner that is consistent with both the requirements of the Coroners Act and the wishes of those families and communities whose children died at St. Joseph’s Mission.
Section 12 of the MOU states that a task team, comprised of the senior leads from each signatory, shall meet bi-monthly to discuss the implementation of the MOU. At the end of March 2025, the investigative team at Williams Lake First Nation met with the BC Coroners Service for the initial meeting. Additionally, the BC Coroners Service has been involved with Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and has conveyed their commitment to supporting all First Nations to the extent their mandate allows.
In September 2024, the BC Coroners Service began a dialogue with the BC First Nations Justice Council about the Indigenous Women’s Justice Plan. The BC Coroners Service is looking forward to working with the BC First Nations Justice Council to enhance the work and knowledge of the BC Coroners Service working in this space.
How are we working together?
The broad scope of Action 4.11 and its 10 corresponding sub-actions has led to varying approaches to engagement, with the recognition of and respect for Indigenous knowledge systems being a key element of all the approaches.
The engagement approaches undertaken are largely distinction-based. For example, the Ministry of Health is engaging separately with partners from the First Nations Health Authority, Métis Nation BC, the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs-led Indigenous Advisory House, and the Provincial Directors of Mental Health and Harm Reduction in the health authorities to discuss how implementation planning may differ for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit clients in the programs under the Integrated Support Framework. Strategic and broad engagement is required, and planning is underway to commence the process throughout 2025/26.
The Aboriginal Housing Management Association and Ktunaxa Nation are leading Complex Care Housing projects, and Nuxalk First Nation, Tla’amin Nation, Kekinow Native Housing Society and Lu’ma Native Housing Society have partnered with health authorities to co-lead Complex Care Housing projects. The Complex Care Housing Policy Advisory Committee, which includes First Nations Health Authority, Métis Nation BC and Aboriginal Housing Management Association, meets quarterly.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General focused their engagement with Indigenous experts on the procurement process for the new Sexual Assault Services Programs, and with the Indian Residential School Survivor Society on the expansion of their crisis line.
Since October 2023, Gambling Support BC has contracted five regional service providers to implement regional engagement plans to connect with First Nations, Métis Chartered Communities, urban and away-from-home Indigenous populations and Indigenous serving partners. The goal is to build relationships and raise awareness of available program services among the Indigenous populations across B.C. Service providers are currently meeting their quarterly engagement targets and building meaningful connections, as reflected in the significant rise in community and individual-driven service requests.
The BC Coroners Service has undertaken varying approaches to engagement, with a focus on continued learning from Indigenous partners and support of traditional practices and policy. The BC Coroners Service is engaging with the First Nations Health Authority through continued conversations, including having the Chief Medical Officer serve on the hiring panel for all BC Coroners Service forensic pathologists, to ensure the candidate performs the role in an appropriate and culturally informed way. The First Nations Health Authority also plays a role in the training of newly hired coroners, sharing culturally appropriate and respectful approaches to death.
The BC Coroners Service signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the First Nations Health Authority in May 2014 that remains in place. The MOU commits the parties to mutually and collaboratively supporting each other in a positive and constructive manner to improve First Nations public safety and the prevention of deaths among First Nation Peoples. The BC Coroners Service has also been involved with Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and has committed to supporting all First Nations to the extent that their mandate allows. Since 2017, BC Coroners Service has worked with the BC Family Information Liaison Unit, facilitating more than 60 information requests from families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Through the Family Information Liaison Unit, the BC Coroners Service answers questions around historical investigations into deaths in a trauma informed and culturally sensitive approach to sharing often very sensitive information.
Further, in Spring 2024, the BC Coroners Service signed an MOU with the Williams Lake First Nation, the RCMP, the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and the Ministry of Forests, to work together and assist with the identification of found remains near the St. Joseph Mission. In September 2024, the BC Coroners Service began a dialogue with the BC First Nations Justice Council about the Indigenous Women’s Justice Plan to identify opportunities for further engagement and partnership.
Are there challenges?
Challenges to fully implement Action 4.11 include the following:
Strategic alignment and prioritization within and across ministries will be required to optimize engagement and implementation capacity for this action.
First Nations and Indigenous leadership organizations may face capacity constraints due to competing priorities and limited resources, which could impact their ability to engage effectively in advancing this action. There may be barriers within provincial policy and legislation to advance the innovative approaches required by the action. There may also be difficulty securing Indigenous service providers for some projects due to ongoing challenges with the BC Bid system and timely communication to First Nations, Métis and Inuit providers when postings go live.
It may be challenging to develop meaningful performance indicators in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous partners for the whole of this action, while respecting the diversity of partnerships, programs and initiatives undertaken to advance it. Staff recruitment continues to be a challenge for all Complex Care Housing projects. The Ministry of Health is monitoring risks to implementation and operations.
Gambling Support BC’s Indigenous services stream operates with limited budget and resources to engage with Indigenous communities, expand services, and align with Action 4.11. Research indicates that Indigenous populations face a higher risk of problem or pathological gambling (11.2% to 19.8% of the population compared to 7% of non-Indigenous populations). Despite this, Indigenous Peoples have historically been underrepresented among Gambling Support BC clients due to challenges in outreach. Recent engagement efforts have significantly increased service requests, creating pressures on the program to meet growing demand;
Community-partner capacity (agencies and front-line partners are short-staffed), lack of trust between First Nation agencies/participants and local policing partners, lack of sustained funding for community agencies, and lack of cell service in remote communities have all been identified as impediments in effective communication and service delivery.
Highlights
A wide variety of innovative and meaningful partnerships, programs and initiatives that are underway or have been completed are contributing to the advancement of this action. The following examples demonstrate progress made during the 2023/24 reporting year.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (PSSG) procured 70 new sexual assault services programs across B.C., 18 of which are Indigenous-focused. PSSG also procured five sexual assault centres located in Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, Kamloops and Prince George, which provide wraparound services to survivors of sexual assault, including trauma-informed spaces for police interviews and medical forensic examinations, among other available services, if the survivor chooses them. The new programs and centres are survivor-centred, trauma-informed, inclusive and culturally safe.
With funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada, PSSG is enhancing the Indian Residential School Survivor Society’s existing crisis line, which provides support to Indian residential school survivors and intergenerational survivors, as well as support for families impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The crisis line is being enhanced to provide province-wide and specialized gender-based violence response including risk assessment and immediate safety planning and addressing the unique needs of Indigenous survivors of gender-based violence.
A traditional Indigenous games curriculum was developed by a contracted service provider in collaboration with community Elders. This project was funded by PSSG and piloted in interior region First Nation communities and schools to help communities explore the relationship between traditional gambling practice, destigmatizing gambling, and integrating wholistic wellness and community connections through play.
The 2023-24 reporting cycle also saw the introduction of three new peer assisted care teams in B.C., and seven new mobile integrated crisis response teams. These are described in detail in Action 3.11.
Urgent homelessness response planning is complete and services are operating. The regional health authorities continue to engage with First Nation communities and regional partners on specific programs.
The enhanced health in supportive housing program is in the early stages of planning. The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and Métis Nation BC (MNBC) are engaged to inform implementation and ensure regional programs include appropriate elements to support First Nation and Métis clients. Regional health authorities will be required to incorporate traditional wellness supports into their program designs, in collaboration with First Nation and Métis partners.
The Ministry of Health is working with the FNHA to develop an implementation plan to deliver traditional wellness supports to First Nations supported rent supplement program clients. This work is being informed by detailed engagement and implementation planning provided by the regional health authorities.
How are we working together?
The broad scope of this action has led to varying approaches to engagement, with the respect and recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems being a key element of all the approaches.
The engagement approaches are largely distinction-based. For example, the Ministry of Health is engaging with the FNHA and MNBC provincial directors of mental health and harm reduction separately to discuss how implementation planning may differ for First Nation and Métis clients on integrated support framework initiatives.
Broad consultation is often required on initiatives within this action, as is the case with First Nations, Métis and urban Indigenous engagement to inform complex care housing (CCH) projects. The Aboriginal Housing Management Association and Ktunaxa Nation are leading CCH projects, and Nuxalk First Nation, Tla’amin Nation, Kekinow Native Housing Society and Lu’ma Native Housing Society have partnered with regional health authorities to co-lead CCH projects.
Since May 2023, there have been ongoing engagements with First Nations, Métis and urban Indigenous organizations to inform new purpose-built CCH housing units. In addition, the CCH policy advisory committee includes representatives from the FNHA, MNBC and the Aboriginal Housing Management Association. Engagements have taken place with:
- Organizations that are planning or delivering CCH services;
- BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres;
- First Nations Housing and Infrastructure Council;
- All Nations Outreach Society;
- Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre Society;
- Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services Society;
- Aboriginal Mother Centre Society;
- Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre;
- Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee;
- Cariboo Friendship Society;
- Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness;
- Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services;
- New Relationship Trust; and
- Fraser Salish First Nations.
For other initiatives within this action, engagement has been more targeted. For example, PSSG focused their engagement with Indigenous experts on the procurement process for the new sexual assault services programs, and with the Indian Residential School Survivor Society on the expansion of their crisis line.
Are there challenges?
Risks to fully implementing this action include the following:
- Strategic prioritization within and across the ministries will be required to optimize engagement and implementation capacity for this action;
- First Nations and Indigenous leadership organizations will need to prioritize and optimize their engagement capacity to partner in moving the action forward;
- Possible barriers within policy and legislation to advance the innovative approaches required by the action;
- Difficulty securing Indigenous service providers for some projects; and
- The ability to develop meaningful performance indicators in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous partners for the whole of this action, while respecting the diversity of partnerships, programs, and initiatives to advance it.
Staff recruitment continues to be a challenge for all CCH projects. Partners are expanding services as staff are hired and trained and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions is monitoring risks to implementation and operations.
Online gambling, specifically federally approved single event sports betting, has resulted in an increased risk of gambling harms. GamblingSupportBC, which provides prevention and clinical services to those suffering gambling harms has seen an over 80% increase in referrals in the last three years. Clinical services, including resources available for Indigenous-specific services, may be impacted by this increased demand. Priority deliverables will be to engage with First Nations and Métis Chartered Communities to determine appropriate services and service delivery.