Media Release: NDP secures critical funding for Indigenous housing through Confidence and Supply Agreement

OTTAWA – On Thursday, NDP Critic for Housing, Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) and NDP Critic for Indigenous Services, MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) secured $287.1 million for National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) to address the housing crisis for Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous, Metis and Inuit people leaving away from their home community. Under the Liberal government, Indigenous people are now 11 times more likely to use a shelter or live in inadequate homes than non-Indigenous people.

New Democrats have been relentlessly pushing for the government to close the funding gap. Today's announcement wouldn’t have been possible without New Democrats who forced the government to act by including support for Indigenous housing in their Confidence and Supply agreement with the Liberals.

“In my riding of Vancouver East, we have the third largest urban Indigenous population in the country and we have had multiple homeless encampments. Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented among the unhoused population, yet this government has dragged its feet in providing a For Indigenous By Indigenous housing,” said Kwan. “While this is the step in the right direction, there’s more work to do.”

This announcement, pushed by New Democrats, delivers on one of the NDP’s key promises on a For-Indigenous, By-Indigenous Housing Strategy. NICHI brings together Indigenous-led housing, homelessness, and housing-related organizations to provide long-term solutions.

June 8th, 2023

NDP secures critical funding for Indigenous housing through Confidence and Supply Agreement

OTTAWA – On Thursday, NDP Critic for Housing, Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) and NDP Critic for Indigenous Services, MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) secured $287.1 million for National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) to address the housing crisis for Urban Rural and Northern Indigenous, Metis and Inuit people leaving away from their home community. Under the Liberal government, Indigenous people are now 11 times more likely to use a shelter or live in inadequate homes than non-Indigenous people.

New Democrats have been relentlessly pushing for the government to close the funding gap. Today's announcement wouldn’t have been possible without New Democrats who forced the government to act by including support for Indigenous housing in their Confidence and Supply agreement with the Liberals.

“In my riding of Vancouver East, we have the third largest urban Indigenous population in the country and we have had multiple homeless encampments. Indigenous peoples are disproportionately represented among the unhoused population, yet this government has dragged its feet in providing a For Indigenous By Indigenous housing,” said Kwan. “While this is the step in the right direction, there’s more work to do.”

This announcement, pushed by New Democrats, delivers on one of the NDP’s key promises on a For-Indigenous, By-Indigenous Housing Strategy. NICHI brings together Indigenous-led housing, homelessness, and housing-related organizations to provide long-term solutions.

“I am proud to have been part of turning empathy into action,” said Idlout. “Today's announcement will advance reconciliation to help address some of the urgent and unmet needs experienced by Indigenous peoples.”

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Click link to read the news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/mark-carneys-liberals-welcome-mp-who-crossed-the-floor-as-the-hunt-for-budget-support/article_481bea0e-cee0-41fb-8b3d-e22aea01a68d.html

Globe & Mail: Federal budget 2025: Foreigners living in Canada will get permanent residence priority, Immigration Minister says

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Click link to read the news story - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-permanent-residence-freeze-canada-diab-federal-budget-2025/

iPOLITICS: Liberals, NDP delete proposed changes to birthright citizenship from ‘lost Canadians’ bill

The federal Liberals have helped pass an NDP motion that removes proposed restrictions to birthright citizenship from the government’s ‘Lost Canadians’ bill, despite the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting in opposition.

On Monday, MPs voted on report stage amendments to Bill C-3 initiated by NDP MP Jenny Kwan that sought to reverse previously adopted changes that would require people eligible for birthright citizenship under the proposed law to fulfill residency and security requirements — similar to prospective immigrants.

The bill now proceeds to third reading, where it is expected to pass, before it moves on to the Senate. If codified, the ‘Lost Canadians’ bill would restore citizenship to people born in a foreign country to Canadian parents who were also born outside Canada.

But Conservative and Bloc MPs passed amendments that would introduce additional criteria for ‘lost Canadians’ to receive citizenship during an immigration committee meeting last month. The amendments would require those eligible to demonstrate, among other things, proficiency in either English or French, as well as a basic knowledge of Canadian history.

Though the Liberals opposed the changes, the amendments passed because the NDP no longer have a seat on committees after failing to keep official party status in this past year’s federal election.

During a recent interview, Kwan told iPolitics that the Tory-proposed changes conflate the rights of immigrants with ‘lost Canadians,’ which she said was “sneaky” and “unCanadian.”

“To me, it is absolutely disgraceful… [so] I’m looking to restore the bill to its original form,” she said.

Kwan’s motion passed by a margin of 170 to 163.

Following the vote, she called the result a “victory for every family who refused to give up, for every Canadian denied their birthright, and for the principle that citizenship belongs to the people — not to politicians.”

Click link to read the news story - https://www.ipolitics.ca/2025/11/03/liberals-ndp-delete-proposed-changes-to-birthright-citizenship-from-lost-canadians-bill/