Billions needed over next two decades for Indigenous schools: Assembly of First Nations

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks during the First Nations Indigenous Skills and Employment Training conference at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary on September 3, 2026. Gavin Young/Postmedia The Assembly of First Nations says it needs at least $19 billion over 20 years, with $550 million in working capital each year, to ease the chronic underfunding of Indigenous schools across Canada, despite a reformed education system. The decades-long shortfall in federal funding has left schools operated by Indigenous band councils overcrowded and unsafe for students, despite $2 billion in federal funding since 2016, which AFN calls inadequate in a report released Thursday. The report comes more than a month before a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and First Nations leaders, who say the latest funding estimates will inform the talks. “We need investment for First Nations,” AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told Postmedia at a conference in Calgary. “Canada had a commitment to close the infrastructure gap for First Nations by 2030. We need to get back on that trajectory.” More than 225 First Nations schools funded by the federal government are overcrowded, according to directives by Canada’s School Space Accommodation Standards, an increase of 25 schools since 2021. Meanwhile, 77 schools need to be replaced due to infrastructure concerns. AFN said Alberta needs nine schools now and three more over five years. The report also highlights a lack of housing for teachers that has led to a revolving door for educators and instability in the education system. Housing on First Nations works differently, as renting is complicated by regulations in the Indian Act, requiring, among other things, a permit from Indigenous Services Canada. “This report shines a light on the essential connection between adequate teacher housing and the ability to recruit and retain qualified educators, and this hits home because I know growing up on reserve, we didn’t have a lot in our schools,” Nepinak said. Of the $19 billion, AFN said it needed more than $4.7 billion as of today, along with an additional billion dollars to build enough housing for teachers in communities across the country. For Alberta, that amount falls to $567 million for schools and $124 million in housing. The funding request is nearly $7 billion higher than AFN’s 2021 projections. The larger price tag is due to higher construction costs, inflation, population growth and…