Purpose, scope and limitations
Section 7 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UN Declaration Act or UNDA) says that annual reports must be prepared, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to report on progress made during the previous fiscal year (in this case, from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025). Reports must address measures taken under section 5 of the UN Declaration Act relating to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration or UNDRIP), and progress on developing and implementing the Action Plan referred to in section 6. In addition, the report seeks to reflect the joint work done over the past fiscal year to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration Act. It is also meant to reflect the perspectives of Indigenous peoples on the importance of the commitments of the UN Declaration Act and how implementation is progressing.
To develop the annual report in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, over the course of the year, Justice Canada sought the perspectives of Indigenous partners. This helped to ensure balance between what departments are reporting and the perspectives of Indigenous partners. Indigenous partners provided input on 109 of the 181 (60%) APMs. For the remaining measures, the information reflects only the government’s perspective. More details can be found in Annex B: Status of Action Plan Measures.
We gratefully thank the Indigenous partners who provided us with their thoughts and perspectives. We hope you see many of your ideas, words and concerns reflected in this report. A number of Indigenous partners received funding from a variety of departments and agencies, including through Justice Canada’s Indigenous Partnership Fund (Annex C). We also recognize that many communities continue to face urgent challenges and may not have had the capacity to engage in this process. We hope to find ways to address this situation in the future and, for now, extend a sincere paqsitpi wela’liek for all the valuable contributions we received.
Department of Justice Canada
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