Indigenous women’s leaders gathered in Ottawa on Thursday to argue that the federal budget fails to address the safety, housing and service needs of women in northern, remote and urban communities, CBC News reported.

“Budget 2026 represents a missed opportunity to make Indigenous women’s safety and healing a sustained national priority,” said Josie Nepinak, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada.

The budget pledges $50 billion over 10 years for Indigenous programs and services, including $32 billion for First Nations housing and infrastructure. But the leaders said the spending commitments do not adequately reflect the different circumstances facing Indigenous women.

Rose Mary Cooper, former executive director of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, said Inuit women were not mentioned in the more than 500-page document. She said most communities in Inuit Nunangat are accessible only by air, and 60 per cent have no shelters or other safe spaces.

“For many Indigenous women, safety is a plane ride away,” Cooper said. Leaving violence can also mean leaving family, language, land and community, she added. Responses must be tailored to where women live and designed and led by them, she said.

Ontario Native Women’s Association CEO Cora McGuire-Cyrette questioned how Ottawa could meet its goal of ending homelessness within 10 years without working with agencies providing services on the ground.

Citing a 2024 study by her organization that found 83 per cent of Indigenous women live off reserve in rural and urban centres, she said the budget was silent on the majority of urban Indigenous agencies while directing most investments toward on-reserve services.

“If we’re not at the table, how can you work with us?” she asked.

The leaders welcomed $3.6 million to renew the Red Dress Alert pilot, developed with Indigenous partners to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Nepinak said the funding would save lives but would not close all the gaps in safety and protection.

McGuire-Cyrette said the pilot addresses the aftermath of violence rather than prevention. “We’re not seeing those upstream investments,” she said.

Lisa Pigeau, director of intergovernmental relations for Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, said the leaders had spoken with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty before the budget’s release. They had not requested a meeting since its tabling, but wanted discussions with all relevant ministers because addressing the violence requires a multi-system approach.

Reporting attributed to CBC News’ Sophia Laporte.

Sources