September 12, 2024       Vancouver, British Columbia     Employment and Social Development Canada

Access to high-quality, inclusive child care has a profound influence on children’s language skills and identity. First Nations children, families and communities benefit greatly from culturally based early learning and child care opportunities rooted in self-determination and in the implementation of First Nations’ laws, teachings and practices.

Today, the First Nations Leadership Council (the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit, and the B.C. Assembly of First Nations) and the governments of British Columbia and Canada gathered to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on early learning and child care for First Nations in British Columbia.

This MOU is an important step on the path to reconciliation. The goal is to support the self-determination of First Nations in British Columbia and advance First Nations’ jurisdiction in relation to early learning and child care.

The First Nations Leadership Council, British Columbia and Canada recognize that First Nations families and children are best supported by early learning and child care programs and services that are designed and led by their community, and respond to local cultures, languages, traditions, practices and laws. Having access to these programs and services is instrumental in creating a foundation for a child’s cultural identity and sense of self.

This MOU is advancing First Nations’ early learning and child care priorities. It is a significant stepping stone in enabling discussions at the political level that respect the self-determination of First Nations and  government-to-government relationships between individual Nations and the Crown.

This approach acknowledges First Nations’ inherent rights to self-determination, including the right to control the design, delivery and administration of an early learning and child care system for First Nations that reflects their unique needs, priorities and aspirations.