OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Canada is falling far behind on its efforts to address long-standing health and infrastructure problems in First Nations communities, the federal auditor general says.
In a report released today, Auditor General Karen Hogan says that despite an 84 per cent increase in spending since 2019, Indigenous Services Canada continues to struggle to expand access to clean drinking water and emergency services in First Nations communities.
She says the department has failed to implement roughly half of the recommendations her office has made between 2015 and 2022.
Twenty years after the auditor general first raised concerns about First Nations’ access to clean drinking water, 35 long-term drinking water advisories remain in place and nine of them have been active for a decade or more, Hogan says.
The auditor says many of the recommendations issued to the department over the years align with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and the final report into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Hogan says Indigenous Services Canada needs “sustained focus” to redesign how it delivers programs, and to collaborate with First Nations to improve their capacity and advance reconciliation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
