How every province and territory handles Indigenous relations, treaty obligations, land rights, and reconciliation. Scored by a Canadian against Canada's own promises. The TRC issued 94 Calls to Action in 2015. This is the measurement.
Canada occupies Indigenous land. This is not a political statement — it is a legal, historical, and geographic fact. Every square meter of this country is covered by a treaty, a land claim, or unceded territory. The relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples is defined by solemn agreements that were, in almost every case, immediately and systematically violated by the colonial government and its successors.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008–2015) documented cultural genocide through the residential school system: 150,000+ children removed from their families, at least 4,100 confirmed deaths (the true number is likely far higher), and intergenerational trauma that persists today. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) documented ongoing genocide. These are not historical events. They are current conditions.
"We are not combatants in a war. We are parties to solemn agreements — treaties — that were supposed to define a relationship of mutual respect. The failure is not mutual. It is one-sided."
— Residential school survivor testimony, TRC Final Report
Each province and territory is scored across six dimensions specific to Indigenous relations:
Scores are based on TRC Calls to Action progress reports, Crown-Indigenous Relations data, Statistics Canada Indigenous demographics, provincial Auditor General reports, Assembly of First Nations publications, ITK (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) reports, Métis National Council data, RCAP (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples) follow-up assessments, and investigative journalism. This audit recognizes that Indigenous issues span federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdictions — but provinces control land, resources, education, healthcare delivery, policing, and child welfare, making them directly accountable for outcomes.
| # | Province / Territory | Treaty | Land | Serv. | Culture | Justice | Econ. | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yukon | 62 | 65 | 48 | 58 | 50 | 52 | 55.8 | C |
| 2 | Northwest Territories | 58 | 62 | 40 | 55 | 48 | 45 | 51.3 | C- |
| 3 | British Columbia | 52 | 55 | 42 | 50 | 45 | 42 | 47.7 | D+ |
| 4 | Nunavut | 55 | 58 | 25 | 60 | 42 | 28 | 44.7 | D |
| 5 | Manitoba | 42 | 38 | 35 | 45 | 30 | 32 | 37.0 | F+ |
| 6 | Quebec | 38 | 40 | 38 | 35 | 32 | 35 | 36.3 | F+ |
| 7 | Nova Scotia | 35 | 38 | 38 | 40 | 35 | 32 | 36.3 | F+ |
| 8 | New Brunswick | 35 | 35 | 35 | 38 | 32 | 30 | 34.2 | F+ |
| 9 | Prince Edward Island | 32 | 35 | 38 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 34.2 | F+ |
| 10 | Newfoundland & Labrador | 30 | 32 | 32 | 35 | 30 | 28 | 31.2 | F |
| 11 | Ontario | 28 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 25 | 28 | 28.8 | F |
| 12 | Alberta | 22 | 25 | 28 | 25 | 22 | 30 | 25.3 | F |
| 13 | Saskatchewan | 20 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 22.5 | F |
Not a single province or territory scores above 56. The highest score (Yukon, 55.8) represents "mediocre" — not "good." Nine of thirteen jurisdictions score below 40 — a failing grade. The national average is 37.3. Canada's reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is not incomplete. It has, in most provinces, barely begun. The TRC issued 94 Calls to Action in 2015. Ten years later, approximately 13 have been fully completed. At this rate, full implementation would take over 70 years. The children who testified at the TRC will be dead before the country keeps its promises to them.
From 1831 to 1996, the Canadian government operated or funded 139 residential schools designed to "kill the Indian in the child." Children were taken from their families, forbidden from speaking their languages, subjected to physical and sexual abuse, and in thousands of cases, never returned home. The last school closed in 1996. Ground-penetrating radar surveys beginning in 2021 identified potential unmarked graves at multiple former school sites — Kamloops (215), Cowessess (751 anomalies), Marieval, and others. The full accounting has not been completed because Canada has not funded it.
The Indian Act (1876, still in force) is a colonial law that defines who is and isn't "Indian," controls reserve governance, restricts property rights, and treats Indigenous peoples as wards of the state. It is the most overtly racist legislation in any Western democracy that remains active law. Every province operates within its framework. No government has replaced it because doing so would require transferring real power and real resources to Indigenous governments — and no government has been willing to do that.
Indigenous children represent 7.7% of children in Canada but 52.2% of children in foster care. In Manitoba, the ratio is even worse. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in 2016 that Canada was racially discriminating against First Nations children in the child welfare system. The federal government was ordered to pay compensation. It fought the ruling in court for years. The child welfare system has been called the "Millennium Scoop" — a continuation of residential school-era family separation by different means.
The National Inquiry (2019) documented systemic violence against Indigenous women and girls and declared it a genocide. The inquiry issued 231 Calls for Justice. Implementation has been minimal. Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than non-Indigenous women. The Highway of Tears in BC alone has seen dozens of disappearances over decades. Provincial police forces have been documented neglecting cases involving Indigenous victims.
In 2015, 105 long-term drinking water advisories were in effect on reserves. The Trudeau government promised to eliminate them all by March 2021. As of 2026, advisories persist. Some communities have been under boil-water advisories for over 25 years. Clean water — a basic human right — remains unavailable to thousands of Indigenous people in one of the most water-rich countries on Earth.
This audit is written by a settler Canadian. It uses publicly available data and institutional reports. It cannot and does not speak for Indigenous peoples — they have their own voices, their own analyses, and their own solutions. What this audit does is hold provincial and territorial governments accountable against their own stated commitments, treaty obligations, and the TRC Calls to Action they claim to support. The scores are low because the performance is low. That is not editorializing. It is measurement.
"Reconciliation is not an Indigenous problem to solve. It is a Canadian one. The question is not whether Indigenous peoples can heal. It is whether Canada can stop inflicting the wounds."