Indigenous women’s groups urge funding to limit risks to safety, prosperity

By Canadian Press on April 8, 2026.

OTTAWA — Advocates are calling for long-term, stable federal funding to ensure safety and prosperity for Indigenous women and girls, with a national focus on major building projects.

Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, president of the National Family and Survivors Circle, says groups like hers still don’t know if they’ll receive continued funding from Ottawa, which undermines work to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

She will join other organizations holding a news conference on Parliament Hill today urging continued funds for support programs and services.

Anderson-Pyrz says the federal government must take serious action to protect Indigenous women and girls, especially as it ramps up plans for resource extraction and infrastructure projects that can put them in harm’s way.

Amnesty International has reported that binge drinking and drug use among transient resource sector workers, combined with high housing prices and a shortage of childcare services, can lead to the exploitation of Indigenous women and girls.

Anderson-Pyrz says the federal government must work with organizations to reduce those risks and ensure proper access to housing, food and education.