Measures and Actions

The Action Plan is part of a range of measures to address violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

Government of Canada Legislative Measures

The Government of Canada has introduced a number of pieces of legislation that improve the status and rights of Aboriginal women, children and families. These include:

• Amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act allow the Canadian Human Rights Commission to accept complaints regarding actions or decisions under the Indian Act. These include decisions or actions by the Government of Canada, as well as band councils.
• The Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act, which came into effect on January 31, 2011, ensures that eligible grandchildren of women who lost Status as a result of marrying non-Indian men will become entitled to registration (Indian Status). Because of this legislation, approximately 45,000 persons will become newly entitled to registration.
• The Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, which received Royal Assent in December 2013, aims to empower men, women, and children living on reserve by granting them matrimonial real property rights and protections similar to those enjoyed by individuals living off reserve. Under the legislation, First Nations may develop their own community-specific matrimonial real property laws, designed to meet their specific needs and customs. In the absence of a First Nation's law, provisional federal rules apply. The provisional federal rules in the Act contain emergency protection order provisions that are intended to better enable residents on reserve to protect themselves and their children in situations of family violence.

Government Actions to prevent violence

The Action Plan is part of a range of measures, totalling nearly $200 million, to address violence against Aboriginal women and girls, which include:

• providingk a safe haven for victims by funding shelters on reserve on an ongoing basis; and
• implementing initiatives to make communities safer, such as:
  • introducing new legislation to create a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights that would establish, at the federal level, clear rights for victims of crime;
  • improving the status and rights of Aboriginal women through the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act;
  • enhancing the safety and security of on-reserve residents, particularly women and children, through the Family Violence Prevention Program; and
  • passing into law the Safe Streets and Communities Act, part of which eliminated the use of conditional sentences, or house arrest, for serious and violent crimes

Aboriginal Justice Strategy

Additional Funding for the Aboriginal Justice Strategy

Victims of Violence

New Investment to Support Victims of Violence and their Children

Date modified:

2016-08-16