Indigenous health-care programs in Quebec at risk due to funding insecurity, advocates say

As the Quebec government continues to promote budgetary rigour, a group of Native Friendship Centres in the province says it has yet to get a clear response on whether they will see funding for their Indigenous health clinics renewed.

Their concern echoes the findings of a Quebec ombudsman report released earlier this month that said budgetary restrictions could lead to setbacks in implementing the recommendations from the province’s Viens Commission, which looked into the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Quebec — including the calls to action that concern health care.

“It was denounced in the Viens Commission, that we’re always obliged to justify the need [for funding],” Tanya Sirois, general manager of the Regroupement des centres d'amitié autochtones du Québec, said in an interview.

“At this moment, in 2025, I feel an exasperation on the Quebec government’s part to want to meet its responsibility toward urban Indigenous populations.”

Native Friendship Centres in the province have partnered with local health authorities to ensure Indigenous patients gain access to services that take their realities into account and that serve them in the language of their choosing.

“Indigenous health clinics offer psychosocial services, physical health services, [medical exams] to prevent illnesses, follow-ups for pregnancies,” said Sirois. 

But without knowing just how much funding they will receive for the coming year, she says it’s becoming increasingly difficult to plan for staffing in the clinics and to expand their services.

“December is right around the corner and there is no money yet that’s made its way [to us] on the ground,” she said. "From April up until now, we have been functioning without funding."

As highlighted in the ombudsman report, funding for Quebec’s five-year J’ai espoir program, which focused on implementing recommendations from the Viens Commission, has come to an end.  

“Funding of the urban Indigenous health clinics remains uncertain, which threatens the sustainability of the specialized care and support offered to the Indigenous populations living in urban settings,” the report tabled by ombudsman Marc-André Dowd states.

Sirois accuses the Quebec government of seeing Indigenous issues as the “flavour of the day,” only increasing funding for programs when tragedies occur. 

“I was impressed by the adoption of [Bill 32]. It was a big step forward … but we have to keep it in place, we can’t just leave it lying on a shelf,” she said. 

The law known as Bill 32 went into effect last year and is meant to put cultural safety training and programs in place for Indigenous patients in the health-care system. 

But the ombudsman report this month found there is no clear strategy in place to implement the new law, nor are there funds attached to it.