Canada’s parliamentary budget officer (PBO) says that the federal government has not taken into account the higher cost of funding indigenous schools leaving some students at a significant disadvantage.
Schools in Canada are run by provincial governments with the exception of those in aboriginal communities. The budget officer compared the funding standards of both levels of government. It found that if provincial funding formulas were applied to schools on reserves they would have received $595 million more in 2012-13 and the difference could be as high as $665 million in 2016-17.
Several needs for extra funding
The extra funding would have taken into account higher costs for operating small schools in remote northern regions, higher costs because of socio-economic disadvantage, language needs, and the higher incidence of children requiring special education support.
The PBO says the funding gap leaves students on some reserves at a significant disadvantage compared to indigenous children who leave their reserves and go to schools under provincial jurisdiction.
The budget officer’s report adds that the government made funding commitments earlier this year that could make up the shortfalls, but that could only happen if the government ends past habits of not spending large parts of money dedicated to indigenous education.
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