MMIWG2S+ programs at risk of losing federal funding, say Indigenous women's organizations

Indigenous women's organizations are calling on the federal government to provide sustained long-term funding to programs addressing missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, two-spirit and gender diverse people.

At a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, National Family and Survivors Circle (NFSC) president Hilda Anderson-Pyrz said short-term funding decisions by the federal government have undermined "the very organizations working to prevent violence and support families and survivors."

"The cost of this violence is measured in lives lost, families shattered, and hundreds of millions of dollars every year," Anderson-Pyrz said.

The NFSC is a non-profit organization working to ensure MMIWG2S+ families are central to efforts to implement the national inquiry's 231 Calls to Justice.

Anderson-Pyrz was joined by Josie Nepinak, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Lisa Pigeau, director of intergovernment relations for Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, Sandra DeLaronde, the executive director of Giganawenimaanaanig, Melanie Morrison from Kahnawa:ke, an impacted family member, and NDP MP Leah Gazan.

Together, they called upon the federal government to commit to "long-term sustained, equity funding" for Indigenous women's organizations to address the MMIWG2S+ crisis. They also want to be involved in the political decision-making process, including implementing the Calls to Justice.

Anderson-Pyrz said the NFSC's core funding of $840,000 from the previous fiscal year expired or "sunset" at the end of March, with no official confirmation of renewal for the coming year from the federal government.

"This lack of sustained support is a significant barrier to making real progress and combating this crisis," Anderson-Pyrz said.

Alec Wilson, spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), said in a statement to CBC Indigenous that the department had confirmed an interim six months of funding for this fiscal year "while awaiting funding decisions" and had notified the organization in February.

"On March 31, we reconfirmed this bridge funding and invited the NFSC to submit a three-year funding proposal," Wilson said, adding "funding discussions are ongoing."

CIRNAC also said the Government of Canada is continuing support for Women and Gender Equality Canada with $660.5 million over five years and an additional $132 million annually "to support families and expand Indigenous-led community safety initiatives."

In a follow-up statement to CBC Indigenous, Anderson-Pyrz said while funding discussions are ongoing, "to date there has been no official allocation of new organizational core funding to the National Family and Survivors Circle Inc. with the federal government on a temporary or a long-term basis."

"Previous federal funding decisions have always come in writing, but we have yet to receive a written commitment of funding from the federal government, nor has there been any fiscal transfer to NFSC Inc."

'If we are good ... then we get funding'

DeLaronde, executive director of Giganawenimaanaanig, formerly the MMIWG Implementation Committee in Manitoba, compared the relationship between Indigenous organizations and the federal government to a "domestically violent relationship."

"If we are good and support government, then we get funding," DeLaronde said.

"If we question government, funding is removed, and that's what happens in domestic violent relationships. So we're asking Canada to recognize us as full partners and remove their proclivity towards domestic violence towards Indigenous women."

Giganawenimaanaanig was tasked with the Red Dress Alert pilot project and its implementation, after the federal government recognized violence against Indigenous women and girls as a national emergency in 2023.

The project received $1.3 million in federal funding.

DeLaronde said they presented a report to the government in November 2025, and the organization has not received any further funding for the project.

Wilson from CIRNAC said the government is reviewing the report by Giganawenimaanaanig "to determine what next steps could look like."

Nepinak, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, said allowing funding for MMIWG2S+ programs to sunset "undermines progress, disrupts essential services and places lives at risk."

"It sends a message that this work is temporary, while in reality the need has never been more urgent," Nepinak said.

"Ending this violence requires more than words. It requires action, accountability and leadership."