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“INAC can use well-understood techniques from provincial funding of school districts and independent schools to fund First Nations education.”

June 7, 2016 – The federal government should quickly release the $300 million increase it promised in operating expenditures for on-reserve students so that it can be used effectively in the upcoming school year, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Verbatim. In “‘If we had 300 Million Dollars’: Funding for Reserve Schools,” authors Barry Anderson and John Richards urge the government to use part of the funding to “nudge” schools towards strategies that are likely to ensure students gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to participate in a modern economy.

Specifically, the authors make the following recommendations to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC):

  1. Improve and simplify the funding formula by putting  in place a resource-cost funding formula that covers all major services to be delivered by on-reserve schools;
  2. Fund academic improvement so that schools are encouraged to pursue incremental improvements; and
  3. Create financial incentives for First Nations to participate in funding their schools to encourage their active participation in school affairs.

The authors conclude: “INAC can use well-understood techniques from provincial funding of school districts and independent schools to fund First Nations education.”

Click here for the full report. 

For more information contact: Barry Anderson, former senior official with the BC Education Ministry; John Richards, Professor, School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University and Fellow-in-Residence, C.D. Howe Institute: 416-865-1904; E-mail: kmurphy@cdhowe.org.

The C.D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research institute whose mission is to raise living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. Widely considered to be Canada's most influential think tank, the Institute is a trusted source of essential policy intelligence, distinguished by research that is nonpartisan, evidence-based and subject to definitive expert review.