By Mikaela Kassar, PhD Student in English, McGill University; and Phoebe Friesen, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Ethics, McGill University The House of Commons of Canada adopted Jordan’s Principle in 2007 to ensure First Nations children have equitable access to government services. In February 2025, Ottawa tightened the rules on what qualifies and the effects were swift. Figures filed at a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing in January 2026 show that in Ontario, funding for educational supports under the principle was drastically cut after the change. In a six-month period, it fell from $122 million in 2024 to $1.2 million in 2025. The number of approved requests dropped precipitously, from 2,608 to 66. Families, service providers and communities across the country have been scrambling to pay for essential services such as educational…
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