Latest news with #JordanPrinciple
CBC
25-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Hundreds of educational assistants cut across Alberta after Jordan's Principle changes
Hundreds of Alberta educational assistants won't return to classrooms this fall, after changes in eligibility for Jordan's Principle funding. The funds from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) are no longer approved for school-related requests in most circumstances for off-reserve schools. Previously, many divisions were using Jordan's Principle funding to support learning needs of Indigenous students, particularly those with disabilities. Jordan's Principle is a legal rule aimed at giving First Nations children the services they need without delay, named after five-year-old Jordan River Anderson who died waiting for care. When the funding didn't come through for this year, some school divisions made staffing cuts in the winter and spring. But many held off until the end of the school year and funded the shortfall themselves. CBC reached out to all 65 school divisions across the province to ask about the impact of the change on staffing — and 33 responded. Nearly 40 per cent of divisions that responded said there would be job losses as a result of the federal funding changes. School divisions reported to CBC at least 450 full-time and part-time EA positions will be lost province-wide between this school year and next. Sturgeon Public Schools had received $1.9 million in Jordan's Principle funding for the 2024-25 school year through an early group application. But after getting word it would no longer be eligible going forward, the division says it eliminated about 35 support staff positions. Shawna Warren, the division superintendent, said Sturgeon Public Schools did its due diligence in order to get that funding. "Jordan's Principle is very targeted. You have to prove that the child, you've exhausted all other resources and avenues for funding to support a First Nation child." "That's why we are disheartened because it's not like this is anything frivolous. We've done our due diligence and this is a huge loss to our First Nation children that we've been educating." WATCH | Jordan's Principle changes explained: Jordan's Principle changes explained 4 months ago Duration 2:35 The federal government recently rolled out sweeping changes to Jordan's Principle. For First Nations kids, the program is vitally important. It enables tens of thousands of families to access essential services every year, but it faces allegations of misuse, amid a massive backlog of more than 100,000 unprocessed requests. Here's what's behind the turbulence. Wendy Harman is an EA in Parkland School Division and is the president of CUPE 5543. She said 67 educational assistants are losing their jobs and more are having their hours reduced in the division. She worries about what this means for the fall. "Already we struggle to support all of our students with the few support staff that we have, and losing nearly one-quarter of our support staff is just going to make it a chaotic system that's not going to be supporting students at all." She said that teachers are also losing a major source of support, which can impede learning for the entire classroom. The federal government made sweeping changes to the program's eligibility in February after reports of misuse of funding. Jennifer Cooper, a spokesperson for ISC, said in a statement schools that are not on reserve are the responsibility of provinces. "Requests for educational supports for school boards off-reserve and private schools will be redirected to provincial school boards, or other existing provincially and federally funded programs," the statement read. Brett Cooper, the superintendent for Pembina Hills School Division, said the division was applying for the program for the first time and had planned to hire support staff and Indigenous elders. He said those resources would have been nice to have in the absence of sustainable funding from the province. Effects of the strike Tasha Oatway-McLay, the board chair for Sturgeon Public Schools, said the loss of funding is compounded with higher costs for retaining EAs. "We're losing Jordan's Principle funding at the same time that we're having to make adjustments to our educational assistants' staffing due to the unfunded labour action," Oatway-McLay said. Cooper said the cost of running a school is increasing, and what is really needed to put enough EAs in classrooms, is higher base funding for divisions. A statement from Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said learning support grants are increasing 2.32 per cent for next school year — plus more to account for recent wage increases.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Funding changes harming Indigenous children in rural areas, Sault group warns
Alana Macintyre and her staff at the Spark Rehabilitation Centre in the Sault say a lack of funding is forcing layoffs and harming service to clients. Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation in the Sault, is up in arms over changes to Jordan's Principle that have forced layoffs of nearly half of her staff. MacIntyre said the vast majority of those layoffs are for workers in rural areas, whose clients will soon no longer have services close to home. Spark Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation in the Sault, is up in arms over changes to Jordan's Principle that have forced layoffs of nearly half of her staff. Jordan's Principle is a human rights principle established by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to ensure First Nations children do not face gaps, delays or denials in accessing government services because of their identity as First Nations children. Half of the clients at Spark for services through Indigenous Services Canada's Jordan's Principle. Now, those applications are being stalled, as the government states they can only be approved by a national review committee. 'Last week I sent an email asking, you know, when will this file be adjudicated?' MacIntyre said. 'I have a family asking, we can't give you we can't give you timelines. And yet on the website, it says five days. We've been waiting for over a year.' 'The suffering that we see on a day-to-day basis with our families, I wish that the people in Ottawa could see it and understand that when they don't adjudicate a file, it's not an ISC number.' — Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation She said the 224 stalled applications relate to nearly 175 Indigenous clients, mostly for speech pathology, occupational therapy and behaviour supports that MacIntyre said should fall under the new parameters for funding. The centre has had to lay off 30 staff from Pic Mobert to Sturgeon Falls who work with clients in their communities. That means those clients will be without the services they require. 'The suffering that we see on a day-to-day basis with our families, I wish that the people in Ottawa could see it and understand that when they don't adjudicate a file, it's not an ISC number,' MacIntyre said. 'It's a child, it's a family.' MacIntyre said that the federal government told her last Friday that she would not be paid retroactively for clients on Jordan's Principle contracts. She said that her business is owed roughly $300,000 from Indigenous Services Canada. 'It's so unethical to these children and families,' MacIntyre said. 'The government is now saying they're not going to pay me for a contract that they approved and provided me, you know, written emails stating that I could continue until the file was depleted. I don't know how somebody is allowed to do that.' Indigenous Services Canada did respond to requests from CTV News to comment on this story.
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Funding changes harming Indigenous children in rural areas, Sault group warns
Alana Macintyre and her staff at the Spark Rehabilitation Centre in the Sault say a lack of funding is forcing layoffs and harming service to clients. Alana Macintyre and her staff at the Spark Rehabilitation Centre in the Sault say a lack of funding is forcing layoffs and harming service to clients in rural areas. Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation in the Sault, is up in arms over changes to Jordan's Principle that have forced layoffs of nearly half of her staff. MacIntyre said the vast majority of those layoffs are for workers in rural areas, whose clients will soon no longer have services close to home. Spark Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation in the Sault, is up in arms over changes to Jordan's Principle that have forced layoffs of nearly half of her staff. Jordan's Principle is a human rights principle established by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to ensure First Nations children do not face gaps, delays or denials in accessing government services because of their identity as First Nations children. Half of the clients at Spark for services through Indigenous Services Canada's Jordan's Principle. Now, those applications are being stalled, as the government states they can only be approved by a national review committee. 'Last week I sent an email asking, you know, when will this file be adjudicated?' MacIntyre said. 'I have a family asking, we can't give you we can't give you timelines. And yet on the website, it says five days. We've been waiting for over a year.' 'The suffering that we see on a day-to-day basis with our families, I wish that the people in Ottawa could see it and understand that when they don't adjudicate a file, it's not an ISC number.' — Alana MacIntyre, owner of Spark Rehabilitation She said the 224 stalled applications relate to nearly 175 Indigenous clients, mostly for speech pathology, occupational therapy and behaviour supports that MacIntyre said should fall under the new parameters for funding. The centre has had to lay off 30 staff from Pic Mobert to Sturgeon Falls who work with clients in their communities. That means those clients will be without the services they require. 'The suffering that we see on a day-to-day basis with our families, I wish that the people in Ottawa could see it and understand that when they don't adjudicate a file, it's not an ISC number,' MacIntyre said. 'It's a child, it's a family.' MacIntyre said that the federal government told her last Friday that she would not be paid retroactively for clients on Jordan's Principle contracts. She said that her business is owed roughly $300,000 from Indigenous Services Canada. 'It's so unethical to these children and families,' MacIntyre said. 'The government is now saying they're not going to pay me for a contract that they approved and provided me, you know, written emails stating that I could continue until the file was depleted. I don't know how somebody is allowed to do that.' Indigenous Services Canada did respond to requests from CTV News to comment on this story.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
N.W.T. ministers press feds to maintain Jordan's Principle funding through 2026
Northwest Territories politicians are lobbying federal officials to extend Jordan's Principle funding through 2026. Earlier this year, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), announced it would be narrowing the range of eligible requests under the program that was created to ensure First Nations children don't face gaps or service denials because of their identities. The announcement has created uncertainty in N.W.T. schools, where many education assistant positions (EAs) are funded with money from Jordan's Principle. In Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1) alone, schools are bracing to lose 79 EAs. On a trip to Ottawa earlier this month, N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said she and other N.W.T. cabinet ministers stressed the urgency of the funding, in as many meetings as they could. "If you want more tradespeople, if you want to be able to really focus on Arctic sovereignty, if you want to build healthy communities together and be able to focus on economic development as a country, as one economy, it really does rely on children having access to education," Cleveland told CBC News. "And that's what Jordan's Principle is about." The changes in Jordan's Principle come after some reportedly used the funding for things like home renovations, gaming consoles and, in one case, a zip line kit. Cleveland acknowledged those abuses of the program but said that's not what's happening with education bodies using Jordan's Principle funds for EAs. "We are seeing education bodies really work hard to ensure that they are carrying the spirit and intent of the policy … and addressing the needs of Indigenous children," she said. The changes would also mean that every Jordan's Principle funding application must come from a referral by a health-care professional. N.W.T. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said that will further strain a system already stretched thin. "When we look at the amount of children that are going to need assessments and referrals, that is going to put a huge burden," Semmler said. "And many of our small communities where these children are getting supports don't have a health professional." Cleveland said their federal counterparts seemed to understand their concerns when they met in Ottawa this month. But she says the N.W.T. officials didn't hear an answer, or a timeline for when they might know whether the funding will be extended. "We simply don't have those answers, but we're going to continue to pull the levers that we have," she said. Cleveland said they're also in the process of coming up with a contingency plan in case the federal government does not extend the funding. "This is one of the things that certainly does keep us up at night because of the dire impacts that it could have. We have a fragile system," she said.
National Post
06-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
CUPE Alberta Calls on Minister Nicolaides to Prevent Education Crisis After Federal Funding Cuts
Article content EDMONTON, Alberta — CUPE Alberta is sounding the alarm over a looming crisis in the province's K–12 education system as hundreds of educational assistants (EAs) across the province face job losses following the withdrawal of most of the federal Jordan's Principle funding for non-reserve schools. Article content Jordan's Principle is a federal policy intended to ensure First Nations children receive the services they need without delay, including in education, health care, and social services. In Alberta, this funding has helped support educational assistants in public schools, benefiting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Article content Article content In a powerful open letter sent to Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides, Wendy Harman, President of CUPE 5543, warned that the cuts would be 'catastrophic' for students with complex learning needs, behavioural challenges, and those on Individualized Education Plans. Article content 'This will devastate our Alberta schools,' wrote Harman. 'Now, we are actively choosing to let more children fall through the cracks, and those cracks are growing into chasms.' Article content Harman cited alarming figures from Parkland School Division, where some schools will see their EA staffing slashed by more than half, dropping from 11 assistants to just 5 for student populations of over 600. 'Our EAs are not 'extras,'' she continued. 'They are qualified professionals who de-escalate crisis situations, manage diverse learning needs, and play a critical role in allowing classroom teachers to teach.' Article content CUPE Alberta President Raj Uppal echoed the concerns and called on the provincial government to immediately step in with targeted funding to protect front-line education supports. Article content 'Educational assistants are the backbone of inclusive classrooms,' said Uppal. 'When we cut EAs, we fail students who need support the most. The Minister must act now, because these cuts affect every student in Alberta who relies on additional help to succeed.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
