Inboxes across Canada have been awash in federal news releases over the past week as Ottawa rushes out funding announcements before the election period begins.
The federal firehose can make it difficult to know which announcements are actually important and worth documenting, and which might not have seen the light of day without an election around the corner.
It’s also not always easy to tell if some press releases are entirely new developments or re-announcing money that was previously made public in another setting (such as in a budget), except perhaps with slightly more detail this time around.
On this page, we’ve listed announcements made over the past week so you can be the judge – and to document some that we think might warrant further attention once the election period is over.
This list only includes recent federal press releases specific to northern communities and peoples that we did not feature in earlier coverage.
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Funding for critical infrastructure
The NWT is receiving $74.2 million over 10 years from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund “to build or improve the critical infrastructure related to drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste.”
This was announced in a Friday press release that carried no detail about where the money would be spent. Over a decade, $74.2 million is not that much when shared between 33 communities. (It’s roughly what Yellowknife’s new aquatic centre cost.)
A day later, a separate press release awarded the City of Yellowknife $41 million from a different stream of the same fund to help pay for major renovations to its sewage infrastructure.
The Saturday news release stated Ottawa’s $41 million will pay for the complete replacement of a lift station and an accompanying sewage main.
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“Yellowknife and the service area for this lift station have grown considerably and the age and design capacity of this lift station is becoming an impediment to future development,” Ottawa stated.
(This doesn’t appear to be part of the same project as the drinking-water pipeline replacement and pumphouse upgrade that council has recently considered.)
Inuit Child First Initiative, Jordan’s Principle
On Friday, Indigenous services minister Patty Hajdu said Canada would spend $121.7 million extending the Inuit Child First Initiative until March 31, 2026.
A day later, she announced “the continued funding for 2025-2026 of Jordan’s Principle” but did not give a dollar value that will be supplied to that program.
The Inuit Child First Initiative ensures Inuit children have equal access to health, social and educational supports. Jordan’s Principle operates similarly for First Nations youth.
Significant concern has been expressed by some First Nations in recent weeks about proposed changes to Jordan’s Principle.
On February 10, the federal government released an operational bulletin stating that requests for non-medical supports such as clothing, childcare, home renovations, international travel, sporting events and requests from schools located off-reserve would not be approved unless required by “substantive equity.”
The Dene Nation said the operational bulletin’s content “undermines Canada’s commitment to justice and equality for Indigenous communities.”
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On Saturday, Hajdu said she had “asked Indigenous Services Canada to review First Nations recipients’ contribution agreements to make sure eligible and documented expenses that have been incurred under Jordan’s Principle in 2024-2025 will be considered for funding.”
It wasn’t clear how that would affect the changes the operational bulletin had set out.
Hay River dredging
On Friday, Transport Canada said it is giving $5 million to the GNWT to pay for dredging of the Hay River.
The Town of Hay River and the territory have spent years trying to coax money out of Ottawa to pay for dredging, which is seen as especially critical with the current low water levels in the South Slave.
A smaller sum of federal funding was released in 2023 and some dredging has begun.
The same announcement included $1 million for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to “install spill response containers, docks, and mooring posts in six remote Inuvialuit communities.”
Endacho Healing Lodge
On Friday, MP Michael McLeod’s office said $7 million would be supplied to “help build a new, energy-efficient and eco-sensitive Endacho Healing Lodge.”
That’s the name of a trauma healing lodge Dene Wellness Warriors has sought to build since 2023.
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The precise location of the lodge was not made clear in the press release.
McLeod’s office said it will help people “heal by connecting with their culture and the land through a combination of traditional and western healing methods.”
Climate change adaptation
On Thursday, the federal government said it will spend $2.7 million on “climate resilience measures” in Tuktoyaktuk, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok and Sachs Harbour.
The specifics of how that funding will be spent appear not yet to have been determined.
“This project will work with community residents, rightsholders and other stakeholders to develop collaborative and proactive adaptation strategies, tools and networks that will guide actions to reduce long-term climate change risks,” Ottawa stated.
The Sahtu Renewable Resources Board will receive $354,000 to “evaluate existing research on drilling sumps to identify and define the risks associated with the mobility of contaminants,” with reference to oil operations in Norman Wells.
The University of Guelph is receiving $466,000 for a “climate change risk assessment of the Giant Mine Remediation Project.”
The GNWT will receive $687,000 to increase access to climate adaptation training resources and educational materials “tailored to the northern context and including an Indigenous perspective.”
