{"id":102153,"date":"2026-02-20T08:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=102153"},"modified":"2026-02-20T08:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:44:12","slug":"inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Inuit Child First Initiative receives $115 million in new funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The federal government is providing $115 million to renew funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative, allowing the program to run until March 31, 2027, Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty announced on Feb. 19. \u201cThese investments reflect our commitment to addressing long-standing gaps in health and community services, while supporting Inuit-led priorities and strengthening the foundations that sustain vibrant, healthy communities in the North,\u201d Gull-Masty said. The Inuit Child First Initiative is supposed to ensure Inuit children receive the same government funded healthcare, social programs and educational products that other Canadian children receive. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said the money has not been budgeted for by the federal government, and is seemingly coming out of nowhere. \u201cThe amount is&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F20%2Finuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The federal government is providing $115 million to renew funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative, allowing the program to run until March 31, 2027, Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty announced on Feb. 19. \u201cThese investments reflect our commitment to addressing long-standing gaps in health and community services, while supporting Inuit-led priorities and strengthening the foundations that sustain vibrant, healthy communities in the North,\u201d Gull-Masty said. The Inuit Child First Initiative is supposed to ensure Inuit children receive the same government funded healthcare, social programs and educational products that other Canadian children receive. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said the money has not been budgeted for by the federal government, and is seemingly coming out of nowhere. \u201cThe amount is... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F20%2Finuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Inuit Child First Initiative receives $115 million in new funding - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inuit Child First Initiative receives $115 million in new funding - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The federal government is providing $115 million to renew funding for the Inuit Child First Initiative, allowing the program to run until March 31, 2027, Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty announced on Feb. 19. \u201cThese investments reflect our commitment to addressing long-standing gaps in health and community services, while supporting Inuit-led priorities and strengthening the foundations that sustain vibrant, healthy communities in the North,\u201d Gull-Masty said. The Inuit Child First Initiative is supposed to ensure Inuit children receive the same government funded healthcare, social programs and educational products that other Canadian children receive. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said the money has not been budgeted for by the federal government, and is seemingly coming out of nowhere. \u201cThe amount is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T13:44:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/20\\\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/20\\\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Inuit Child First Initiative receives $115 million in new funding\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T13:44:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/20\\\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":487,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/20\\\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/20\\\/inuit-child-first-initiative-receives-115-million-in-new-funding\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inuit Child First Initiative receives $115 million in new funding - 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