YK1 agrees to take GNWT emergency funding for EAs

Yellowknife’s YK1 school district will use some of a $14-million GNWT emergency fund to “recall educational assistants” lost through Jordan’s Principle cuts.

In June, YK1 said federal changes to eligibility for Jordan’s Principle – a program designed to give First Nations children equitable access to programs and services – meant 79 educational assistants’ jobs would be lost.

From August: GNWT finds $14M to help schools hit by Jordan’s Principle changes

YK1 schools have started the 2025-26 academic year without dozens of positions they previously had.

One staff member, requesting anonymity to discuss the issue, said in September the changes had been “devastating” and were putting students in “undesirable situations.” Another said this was “one of the roughest years we’ve had.”

In a news release late last week, the district confirmed it will begin using the GNWT fund to rehire staff but declined to state how much of the fund it will tap into or how many assistants it hopes to bring back, saying some elements of its plan were still being finalized.

Until that news release, whether YK1 would take the GNWT’s support had not been clear.

The $14-million fund comes with a requirement that school districts must agree to first spend down any surplus they have that is not otherwise accounted for.

In recent weeks, YK1 is understood to have been in discussions with the GNWT about the surplus requirement, against which some staff and board members had pushed back on the grounds that surpluses provide valuable funding for other needs like infrastructure and upkeep.

Asked whether the district had agreed to the GNWT’s initial terms, assistant superintendent Graham Arts told Cabin Radio by email: “YK1 has carefully considered its options in addressing emerging needs within the district, and has made some additional commitments relying upon surplus operating funds.”

“With this support confirmed, YK1 will begin the process of recalling educational assistants for whom we didn’t have positions in June,” the district stated in its news release.

“The district also anticipates hiring educational assistants immediately to cover additional gaps. Our priority is to have staff in schools as soon as possible to support students, teachers, and families.”

The funding will run until the end of June 2026. The GNWT has said it is not in a position to supply any long-term replacement for sums previously provided by Jordan’s Principle.

“The district will only receive funding for positions that were eliminated and now can be recreated due to this allocation. Since we are still finalizing the number of positions we are recreating, it’s too early to comment on the final funding amount YK1 will receive,” Arts told Cabin Radio.

“Our first priority is to bring back educational assistants whose positions were eliminated due to the funding cuts, and who reasonably would have expected to have their positions renewed if the funding had been available at the end of last year.

“This will involve us reaching out to them to confirm their availability and their willingness to return to a position with the district. Once we have fulfilled that commitment to our employees, we will know how many additional positions are available for any potential new hires.”

ISC’s current approach

Tuesday is federal budget day, which may bring some clarity to the future of Jordan’s Principle.

Internal documents reported by APTN have shown significant confusion within Indigenous Services Canada, the federal agency responsible for the program, after changes were made at the start of 2025.

Ottawa has said Jordan’s Principle had to change because costs were soaring to an unsustainable level and some aspects of the program were being abused.

But the withdrawal of education-related funding – in all but a limited set of specific circumstances – has had an outsized impact on NWT schools, some of which had come to rely on Jordan’s Principle to fund many roles.

Last week, Yellowknife Catholic Schools became the latest school board to warn that significant changes lie ahead if the funding is not restored.

YCS said unless a solution is found, it will not be able to sustain some programs and services when its current Jordan’s Principle funding expires at the end of this academic year. The school board’s chair was told by Indigenous Services Canada that no education-related requests would be considered in future, YCS stated.

Asked about its current position on funding for schools, Indigenous Services Canada told Cabin Radio its present approach is that those applications will “generally be denied.”

“Jordan’s Principle seeks to make sure that First Nations children do not experience gaps, delays or denials in accessing essential government services due to their identity as First Nations children. Supporting First Nations children is a shared responsibility between federal, provincial, and territorial governments,” Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Carolane Gratton wrote in an email.

Jordan’s Principle “is not meant to replace existing education services,” Gratton added, and the territorial government is responsible for delivering education to “all children, including First Nations children.”

“Unless funding is required pursuant to substantive equality, education-related requests made by provincial or territorial schools or school boards on behalf of First Nations students enrolled in publicly funded provincial/territorial schools or private schools will generally be denied or redirected to other existing publicly funded programs,” her email continued.

“We are engaging with First Nations, provincial and territorial partners to strengthen collaboration and ensure that children’s needs are met together.”