Federal government drops plan to restrict funding for residential school grave searches

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OTTAWA — The federal government is walking back moves to limit funding for searches of former residential school grounds.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the government had listened “loudly and clearly” to the concerns of Indigenous leaders and communities.

Communities previously could access up to $3 million a year through the Residential School Missing Children Community Support Fund, but the government has capped funding at $500,000.

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Ananda Sangli said in a statement that the government would now remove that cap and remove planned restrictions on funds that would be used to find burial sites at former residential schools and identify children who never returned.

He said the government’s intention was to fund as many initiatives as possible but it erred by not being flexible enough.

The fund was established after Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation released a report in 2021 that found 215 anomalies on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

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