August 6, 2026

OPEN LETTER: Urgent call to renew and sustain federal funding for MMIWG2S+ 

Dear Prime Minister Carney and Minister Alty,

Members of the Coalition on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ People (MMIWG2S+) in B.C. (“The Coalition”) write to express our grave concern regarding the federal government’s decision to allow critical funding for MMIWG2S+ supports, Indigenous women’s organizations, families, survivors and community-led initiatives to sunset without adequate notice, transparency or a clear plan for renewal. We call on you to work with the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, families and survivors and Indigenous women’s organizations to:

1. Renew all federal funding for MMIWG2S+ supports that has expired or is scheduled to sunset, with no gaps in service delivery, and provide clear timelines for renewal.
   
   
2. Establish sustainable long-term, stable core funding for Indigenous women’s organizations, family- and survivor-led organizations, grassroots groups and regional coalitions working to end violence against Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit+ and gender-diverse people.
   
   
3. Commit to permanent, adequate and equitable funding for MMIWG2S+ prevention, response, Indigenous-led health and healing services, justice, housing, transportation, data sovereignty, community safety and family and survivor supports and to expedite implementation of the Calls for Justice.
   
   
4. Publicly disclose which MMIWG2S+ programs, projects and initiatives have ended, are scheduled to end or remain uncertain, including timelines, affected organizations, funding amounts and responsible departments.
   
   
5. Ensure families and survivors are meaningfully resourced to participate in decisions regarding MMIWG2S+ funding, implementation of the Calls for Justice and evaluation of federal action.
   
   
6. Report annually, in accessible and transparent language, on how federal funding is advancing the Calls for Justice, including distinctions-based, regional, including urban and rural, and family and survivor-led outcomes.

We are particularly concerned that sunsetting funds without a transparent transition plan will interrupt direct support to families and survivors including reducing access to advocacy, cultural healing, mental health supports and community safety initiatives. Further these cuts threaten to destabilize Indigenous women’s organizations and family-led initiatives; undermine implementation of the Calls for Justice and the Federal Pathway; exacerbate inequities in rural, remote and northern communities; deepen mistrust between families, communities and governments; and result in further harm towards Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people. Meanwhile, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people will continue to be disproportionately affected by gender-based violence. According to the Ministry of Justice, in 2017, despite Indigenous people making up only 5% of the population, Indigenous women accounted for 10 per cent of all missing Canadian women and in 2014, accounted for 21 per cent of all murdered women in Canada.

Indigenous women’s organizations and family- and survivor-led groups have warned that federal funding for programs addressing the crisis of MMIWG2S+ has expired or is at risk of expiring. This leaves organizations unable to plan, retain staff, support families or continue urgent work to prevent violence and respond to the harms of ongoing genocide. In British Columbia, we know that the cost of not addressing violence far outweighs investing in systemic prevention. A recent report by the YWCA B.C. found that at a minimum, gender-based violence costs the Province 1.12 billion dollars annually. 

In April 2026, Indigenous women’s organizations called for long-term, sustained and equitable funding, noting that short-term funding decisions undermine the very organizations working to prevent violence and support families and survivors. The federal government cannot claim commitment to the National Inquiry’s Calls for Justice while allowing the infrastructure required to implement them to erode. The sunsetting of this funding further destabilizes organizations and communities that have carried the burden of advocacy, family support, cultural healing, data collection, policy development, safety planning and frontline crisis response for decades. These are not short-term needs. They are the direct result of long-standing colonial systems, racism, misogyny, poverty, child apprehension, policing failures, housing insecurity, inadequate health and mental health care, and the continued denial of Indigenous women’s, girls’ and two-spirit+ peoples’ rights to safety, dignity, self-determination and life.

The National Inquiry made clear that the violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people is rooted in colonialism and constitutes ongoing genocide. Governments have legal, constitutional and human rights obligations to respond with the urgency and accountability that this crisis demands, including under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the National Inquiry’s Calls for Justice, and the Canadian Charter. Allowing funding to lapse without renewal is incompatible with those obligations. 

While we welcome the recent announcement of 607.4 million dollars to advance the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, the MMIWG2S+ crisis requires a distinct urgent response and funding to address the disproportionate violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit+ people. The Coalition urges the Government of Canada to treat MMIWG2S+ funding as essential human rights infrastructure. The federal government must not abandon the organizations, families and grassroots leaders who have built the pathways to safety, justice and healing that Canada itself has failed to provide.

We look forward to your urgent response and request a meeting with you at your earliest opportunity to hear directly from families, survivors and frontline organizations about the impact of funding uncertainty in British Columbia and the urgent need for sustained federal action. 

Please direct correspondence to Elena Pennell, UBCIC Sr. Policy Analyst, Women & Girls at [email protected]

Sincerely,

Amnesty International Canada 
Atira Women’s Resource Society 
Battered Women’s Support Services 
BC Civil Liberties Association 
BC Native Women’s Association 
Debbie Scarborough 
First Nations Summit
Ending Violence Association of BC 
Indigenous Women Rise Society
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre 
Jenny Kwan, MP 
Judy Wilson, Advisory/Knowledge Holder & Advocate 
Justice for Girls 
Myrna Cranmer, February 14th Memorial March 
Protect Our Indigenous Sisters Society
Rise Women’s Legal Centre 
Shelagh Day, Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Feminist Alliance for International Action  
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs 
YWCA BC 

Media inquiries:
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President, 250-490-5314
Chief Councillor Linda Innes, Vice-President, 778-884-5663
Chief Marilyn Slett, Secretary-Treasurer, 250-957-7721

CC:
Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State
Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services Canada

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