Trudeau announces $8.2B to renew 10-year funding for B.C. First Nations Health Authority

B.C.'s First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) has received $8.2 billion in funding from the federal government to support programming and services for more than 200 First Nations for another 10 years. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu made the announcement at the Chief Joe Mathias Centre on the Squamish Nation Friday. 

"So many of our people, for so many generations, have been ... faced with health care that was inhumane," said Wade Grant, chair of the First Nations Health Council — a governance branch of the First Nation health authority— at the announcement. 

The money is a renewal of funding from when the FNHA was created in 2013. The authority took over responsibility for management and delivery of health programs for First Nations in B.C. through tripartite agreements with the provincial and federal governments. 

The FNHA provides a large scope of services including primary health care, addictions treatment and mental health and wellness. 

"Today I see a future where my grandchildren, great-grandchildren won't suffer the racism that my mom suffered, we won't see the opioid deaths that are happening because we can take control of that and do something about it," said Wenecwtsin Wayne Christian, deputy chair of the First Nations Health Council. 

The health authority has created a 10-year strategy on the social determinants of health, with a focus on healing approaches, cultural infrastructure, financial sustainability and nation-based governance. 

1st of its kind

The creation of the FNHA 10 years ago, the first of its kind in Canada, was celebrated at the announcement as a model that could be replicated across the country. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the health authority is "leading the way in this country in tangible ways on reconciliation." 

"This has transformed how health care is delivered to First Nations in B.C.," he said.

"It's about assuring that decisions that impact the health of First Nations are made by First Nations." 

Five other First Nations "health transformation initiatives" funded by the federal government are currently underway in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and two in Manitoba. 

Richard Jock, chief executive officer of the FNHA, said the direction of the health authority is driven by the needs of First Nations communities. 

He said it is clear there is a need for more mental health and addiction services for communities and that the opioid crisis demands immediate attention. 

According to the FNHA, in 2022 First Nations people were dying from illicit drug toxicity at five times the rate of B.C.'s general population.

"One of the key elements of our agreement is the ability to deploy our resources according to need and we will do so," said Jock.