Funding: partially funded

Federal decisions made after an April warning have kept some work on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people from losing all support. But the public record does not show that two expired agreements with Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada were replaced.

That distinction matters in Nunavut. National funding can support research, policy work, family participation, prevention and the ability of Inuit organizations to take part in federal decisions. Other programs pay for shelters, local services or individual projects. Money continuing in one area does not necessarily replace money lost in another.

On April 9, 2026, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada joined several Indigenous women’s organizations in warning that relevant MMIWG2S+ funding had ended on March 31, 2026. Pauktuutit called for sustained funding designed around Inuit circumstances, public progress reporting and Inuit women’s participation in decisions. Source↗

Ottawa later approved money for the National Family and Survivors Circle Inc., extended a broader family-violence program and announced ongoing federal funding for work against gender-based violence. Those decisions amount to a partial response. They do not establish that every agreement ending in March was renewed, or that the replacement money is permanent and Inuit-specific.

What ended in March

Federal agreement records reviewed for this report show that at least two projects involving Pauktuutit reached their scheduled end on March 31, 2026.

One was a $750,000 agreement intended to strengthen Pauktuutit’s ability to prevent and address gender-based violence. It ran from July 15, 2022, to the end of March 2026. Source↗

A separate $544,398 agreement supported a gender-equality community dialogue project. The reviewed records also show that a $631,500 Women and Gender Equality Canada agreement with the National Family and Survivors Circle Inc. ended on the same day.

An agreement reaching its scheduled end is not, by itself, proof that an organization lost all federal support. A replacement may use a different program or agreement name. It may also be announced later. As of October 2, 2026, however, the public records reviewed do not identify replacement agreements for the two Pauktuutit projects.

Pauktuutit’s warning should not be read as saying all federal MMIWG2S+ spending was one fund that vanished at once. The federal response is spread among departments and programs dealing with violence prevention, shelters, housing, justice, health, data, organizational capacity and family participation. Each has its own dates and rules.

What Ottawa funded afterward

The clearest replacement decision concerns the National Family and Survivors Circle Inc., which brings family members and survivors into work connected to the National Action Plan.

The 2026 Spring Economic Update listed annual support for the circle through 2028-29. On May 5, federal ministers described the commitment as $2.6 million over three years. Source↗

The economic update also extended the Family Violence Prevention Program by about $13 million a year for five years. It listed continued funding for other justice work connected to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Source↗

Another decision came through Budget 2025. It provided Women and Gender Equality Canada with $223.4 million over five years beginning in 2026-27, with $44.7 million ongoing after that period, to strengthen federal action against gender-based violence.

On May 25, the department announced a larger package for gender equality work. Part of it was described as $23.2 million for 112 organizations carrying out gender-based violence projects. Source↗

These are real funding decisions, not proposals. They show that Ottawa did not let every relevant stream expire. But the announcements do not say how much of the ongoing money will be Inuit-specific, how much will reach organizations in Nunavut, or whether Pauktuutit’s expired agreements will be replaced.

Core organizational funding and project funding also work differently. A local prevention project may continue while a national Inuit organization loses money used for policy analysis, data work, community engagement or monitoring. The reverse is also possible. Treating both as one funding total can hide where capacity is actually growing or shrinking.

How the work developed

The current funding debate follows years of plans, commitments and short-term budget cycles.

The National Inquiry released its final report on June 3, 2019. It contained 231 Calls for Justice. Calls 16.1 through 16.46 addressed Inuit circumstances, producing 46 Inuit-specific Calls for Justice.

On June 3, 2021, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Pauktuutit released the National Inuit Action Plan. It organized proposed work under 14 connected themes, including safety, shelter, housing, health, justice, language, data and economic security. It also recognized Inuit living outside Inuit Nunangat, including those in urban centres. Source↗

Canada launched its Federal Pathway on the same day, backed at the time by more than $2.2 billion across numerous initiatives. Budget 2021 included $55 million over five years to increase the capacity of Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to prevent gender-based violence.

Budget 2023 then provided the National Family and Survivors Circle with $2.6 million over three years and established other time-limited commitments. Several of those cycles ended in the 2025-26 fiscal year, helping create the funding deadline that prompted the April 2026 warning.

The pattern is important. Ottawa has repeatedly committed substantial amounts, but much of the work has been divided into separate projects with different end dates. An organization may spend years building staff, knowledge and relationships, then face uncertainty while waiting for a new budget or application process.

Why it matters in Nunavut

Nunavut has a direct stake in both national advocacy and local services. The territory has 25 Nunavut communities. In the 2021 Census, 31,050 Inuit lived in Nunavut, representing 84.4 per cent of its population.

The Government of Nunavut’s current family-safety information identifies five Family Violence Shelters, in Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit, Kugaaruk, Kugluktuk and Rankin Inlet. On that specific list, 20 communities have no designated shelter.

The territorial government says people in a community without one can seek help from social services or a community justice worker to reach a place of safety. Other government pages use broader categories and list additional women’s, emergency and homeless shelters. That means the number five should not be read as the complete count of every emergency bed or safe place in Nunavut. Current operating status, capacity and eligibility would need to be confirmed directly.

The need for prevention and safe options is reflected in police data. Nunavut’s 2024 police-reported family-violence rate was 5,355 per 100,000 population. Police-reported data do not capture every incident, and the rate does not show which programs prevent harm. It does show the scale of cases coming to police attention.

Federal reporting says the Family Violence Prevention Program supported more than 400 community-driven projects nationally in 2025-26, working with distinctions-based partners that included Pauktuutit. The same report identifies a $1.66-million, five-year Public Health Agency of Canada contribution to Ilitaqsiniq for family-strengthening programs across Nunavut. Source↗

Those examples confirm that some relevant work is reaching Inuit organizations and Nunavut. They do not show that any specific Nunavut shelter or frontline service depended on the Pauktuutit agreements that expired in March.

The practical effect may therefore be indirect. Reduced national capacity could mean less Inuit-specific research, fewer opportunities for community engagement, weaker monitoring or less ability to press governments for policy changes. At the same time, an individual health or prevention project in Nunavut could continue under a separate agreement.

Federal numbers need careful reading

Ottawa’s June progress report says 174 initiatives involving 29 federal departments and agencies were advancing 163 Calls for Justice during 2025-26. It presents that activity as evidence of continued federal work. Source↗

The federal reporting tool displays “163 Calls for Justice actioned” and “57 pending.” But “actioned” combines work reported as completed with work still underway. The tool says only two fully completed. The 163 figure must not be described as 163 completed Calls for Justice. Source↗

The same annual report says the Family Violence Prevention Program spent $96.6 million in 2025-26. That included $56.1 million for shelter operations, $700,000 for shelter project development and $39.8 million for programs and services.

Those totals help show the scale of federal activity, but they cannot answer every accountability question. Broad federal programs often serve several purposes, and a national amount does not reveal what reached Inuit communities, what paid for ongoing operations, or what will continue after current agreements end.

An independent June 2026 analysis by the National Family and Survivors Circle and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives identified 94 programs or initiatives relevant to the Calls for Justice. It estimated that annual spending on newer initiatives could decline from $3.7 billion in 2024-25 to about $1.8 billion from 2028-29, a drop of 51 per cent.

That is a projection, not an audited forecast. The authors described their figures as informed approximations because many programs serve several policy goals. The projection is useful as a warning about scheduled end dates, but it does not prove that the decline will occur or that every expiring program will disappear.

There is disagreement about where money should go

Pauktuutit argues that broad pan-Indigenous programs cannot substitute for Inuit-specific investment. Its April statement called for an Inuit-specific gender-based analysis, Inuit women’s leadership, stronger organizational and community capacity, urban Inuit inclusion, transparent tracking and a role for Inuit women in funding decisions.

The National Family and Survivors Circle, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak and Giganawenimaanaanig also warned in April that expiring money could destabilize Indigenous-led advocacy and services. The circle later welcomed its renewed federal support while continuing to argue that short funding cycles leave progress fragile.

The federal government’s public position is that substantial work continues through the circle’s new agreement, ongoing gender-based violence funding, shelter and transitional-housing investments, and annual progress reports.

A different view has come from more than 400 people publicly identified as MMIWG2S+ family members. They signed a letter calling for funding to some national organizations to be halted and for forensic audits, arguing that more money should reach families and grassroots work.

Those are allegations and policy demands, not findings of misuse. No wrongdoing should be inferred. The disagreement also means no national organization should be presented as speaking for every family. At the same time, that criticism does not erase Pauktuutit’s separate mandate to advocate for Inuit women.

What could happen next

One possible outcome is partial stability. The National Family and Survivors Circle could continue under its three-year commitment, the Family Violence Prevention Program could operate at its extended level, and Women and Gender Equality Canada could use its ongoing allocation to renew selected projects. That would avoid an across-the-board collapse while leaving organizations dependent on separate programs and application cycles.

A second possible outcome is an Inuit-specific renewal. Ottawa could negotiate new agreements with Pauktuutit or other Inuit organizations for National Inuit Action Plan implementation, governance, data, monitoring and community engagement. No reviewed source confirms that such replacement agreements have been signed.

A third scenario is another funding cliff. The circle’s announced support runs for three years, while the family-violence program extension runs for five. Without permanent replacements, another cluster of programs could approach expiry between 2028-29 and 2030-31.

Nunavut could also see uneven effects. Some prevention, health or shelter projects might continue while national Inuit research and advocacy capacity shrinks. That is why future announcements should be checked for the recipient, purpose, duration and whether money is new, renewed or simply reannounced.

Several things would clarify the picture: public records showing replacement agreements for Pauktuutit’s two expired projects; a breakdown of how the ongoing Women and Gender Equality Canada allocation reaches Inuit organizations; clearer reporting on the 46 Inuit-specific Calls for Justice; and current information about shelter capacity and eligibility in each Nunavut community.

For now, the evidence supports a narrower conclusion than either a total cancellation or a full renewal. Ottawa has extended and replaced some MMIWG2S+-related funding. The National Family and Survivors Circle has a documented three-year commitment. Broader federal programs also continue. But the future of the two identified Pauktuutit agreements, and the amount of ongoing funding dedicated specifically to Inuit priorities, remains unresolved in the public record.

Support and immediate safety

This report discusses family violence and missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people. Anyone in immediate danger should call 911. In a Nunavut community without a designated family-violence shelter, the territorial government advises contacting local social services or a community justice worker for help reaching a place of safety.