Indigenous services minister again says Jordan’s Principle change is coming

Indigenous services minister Mandy Gull-Masty says she recognizes changes to Jordan’s Principle have been “unintentionally felt in the North to a greater degree” and continues to promise some form of shift to help the NWT’s education system.

What that shift will look like and when it will happen remain unclear.

Gull-Masty has insisted for much of the past year that something will be done to try to lessen the blow being felt by schools in the NWT.

In her latest interview, at the start of this month, she spoke in clearer terms about the issue and said work is under way but “what that is going to look like, I don’t know yet.”

Jordan’s Principle provides federal funding to ensure First Nations children have equitable access to programs and services. The Inuit Child First Initiative performs a similar function for Inuit children.

Together, they have been used by NWT schools to fund hundreds of positions, particularly ones providing enhanced classroom supports or specialist help to students who need it.

Staff at those schools say those positions have made a huge difference. However, changes in early 2025 have in effect cut off schools from that funding.

Stopgap NWT government funding runs out this summer and, while the GNWT has released a new $30-million package focused on propping up some in-class services, education bodies and unions have warned that cuts will be deeply felt in the new academic year unless something changes.

In Inuvik, for example, 13 teachers have already been told they are being laid off in the summer. That’s understood to represent about a quarter of the town’s teaching staff.

In most NWT communities, the vast majority of students are Indigenous. However, the Jordan’s Principle rules introduced in 2025 state that unless a school is on a reserve – just one of nearly 50 NWT schools is on-reserve – they can no longer access funding.

Both the territorial government and Indigenous governments have questioned why the presence of a reserve makes any difference. Some groups have taken the federal government to court.

“What’s the plan to meet the needs of the students? That is definitely a concern to us,” said Evelyn Storr of the impact on Inuvik students of 13 teachers losing their jobs. Storr represents the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation among trustees of the Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council, which is responsible for education in Inuvik.

“It’s a huge cut. I can’t imagine taking that amount of teachers out of the picture and the effects on the students,” she told Cabin Radio in an interview late last month.

“We will have to prepare ourselves as we move forward, if nothing changes, to ensure that the students will have additional mental health supports. Because if the students are not getting what they need at school, they’ll definitely be impacted in the home, too.”

Storr said the IRC will “try to come up with a solution” to help communities and families if nothing changes at the federal level.

‘It’s also up to the GNWT’

Cuts being attributed to Jordan’s Principle have either taken place or are expected territory-wide, not just in Inuvik.

In smaller Beaufort Delta communities, officials have warned that the jobs of educational assistants – the majority of whom are longtime Indigenous residents of those communities – are at risk.

“It is a terrible loss for everyone, especially in the regions and smaller communities where most of these positions are held by local Indigenous women,” said Jeff Groenewegen, Hay River regional vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers, by email to Cabin Radio.

“This funding is making a difference, the programming developed and delivered within the schools is working, the results are real,” Groenewegen wrote.

“In our schools, it was changing the lives of these children and the trajectory of their education and careers. This loss doesn’t just impact a few positions; it impacts our entire northern community.”

The UNW and GNWT each hold the position that the federal governments needs “to see the territory differently” than provinces and drop the on-reserve rule for funding.

However, both Groenewegen and Storr said the territorial government is ultimately responsible for education in the NWT and has to do more to step in if Jordan’s Principle funding does not return.

“It’s also up to the GNWT – who is responsible for appropriately funding education in the territory – to ensure no students are left behind,” Groenewegen wrote.

“The school boards are doing their best to re-assign affected workers and re-allocate whatever resources they can, but if the GNWT and the federal government can’t figure out a framework to reinstate this funding, every student – regardless of needs, ability, or background – is going to really feel the grave impacts of these cuts when the new school year starts this fall.”

Taking the time

The GNWT’s response to date has been twofold – cash and lobbying.

The territory has released $14 million in emergency funding for 2025-26 followed by $30 million for 2026-27 tied to a review of inclusive schooling. Neither of those sums comes close to matching the tens of millions of dollars schools had been accessing through Jordan’s Principle.

On top of that, ministers have repeated almost monthly for the past year that they are pushing for Ottawa to change its approach. Speaking with Cabin Radio earlier this year, education minister Caitlin Cleveland said she was prepared to accept any idea at this point that might move the needle on Parliament Hill.

Gull-Masty said she had met with various NWT leaders in recent weeks, received correspondence from others, and was prepared to concede that “the previous government” – the Liberals under Justin Trudeau – may not have been “cognizant that the operations and functions of the territories are actually quite different from the provinces.”

Acknowledging the impact of the 2025 changes had been “actually quite significant,” Gull-Masty – whose department oversees the administration of Jordan’s Principle – said Indigenous Services Canada had “begun an engagement process … to identify how we can align to be sure that we’re not penalizing [the NWT] with the changes.”

There are now weeks remaining in the 2025-26 academic year. Pushed for a timeline given imminent layoffs, Gull-Masty said she did not want to produce another “huge shift” that created unintended consequences.

“I also have to defend the space that Jordan’s Principle is in. There are, historically, things that have been challenging within Jordan’s Principle,” she said.

“You have to do this work properly. You have to take the time to really ensure that you’re engaging with communities and responding to their needs.

“I’m pleased that we are making headway. I’m also frustrated at the speed at which government moves, but I’m more cognizant and concerned that the decisions that we make have such intensive impact in people’s daily lives that I want to make the right ones for them.”