UNDRIP: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act

PHOTO: Department of Justice Canada

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act became law and came into force on June 21, 2021.

As the next step, the Government of Canada is working in consultation and cooperation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to:

Develop measures necessary to ensure the consistency of federal laws with the Declaration
Develop an action plan to achieve the objectives of the Declaration
Develop annual reports on progress and submit to, or table in, Parliament

The Act requires that the action plan be developed as soon as possible and no later than two years after the coming into force of the Act, which means it needs to be completed by June 2023.

Moving forward together

As a first step, the Government of Canada will be working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to implement the UN Declaration Act. There will be two engagement phases.

Phase one focuses on working in partnership with Indigenous peoples to better understand their priorities to help shape the initial draft of an action plan and to begin to identify potential measures for aligning federal laws with the Declaration. Consistent with the Act’s requirements, this process will include:

First Nations, Inuit and Métis rights holders, including modern treaty signatories, self-governing nations and historic treaty partners, as well as with national and regional Indigenous representative organizations
Indigenous women, Elders, youth, persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, urban Indigenous people and other Indigenous organizations and groups

Phase two focuses on continued engagement with Indigenous peoples to validate the draft action plan. The draft action plan will be informed by the priorities identified in phase one. This phase also includes opportunities for broader engagement, including with provinces and territories and industry. This phase is anticipated to start in the fall of 2022/winter of 2023.

How to participate

There are multiple ways for Indigenous peoples to participate in this engagement process:

Indigenous-led engagement sessions
A number of virtual sessions organized by Justice Canada
Online submission tool, email or mail

Submit your feedback

An online submission portal to help identify First Nations, Inuit and Métis priorities for the action plan is now open.

This tool complements nation-to-nation, Inuit-Crown and government-to-government engagement processes underway. Indigenous people are also encouraged to share their perspectives with their governing bodies and representative organizations.

Hearing from a wide-range of Indigenous individuals, groups and organizations will support a broad and inclusive engagement process.

To submit your feedback, we invite First Nations, Inuit and Métis to fill out the following online submission tool. The series of questions and themes are designed to help the Government successfully meet the requirements of the Act and ensure that Indigenous priorities are identified.

Read the Privacy statement and Terms of reference related to this online submission tool.

Feedback and comments can also be submitted via email or mail.

Mailing Address

Potential topics for discussion

We welcome all views and perspectives on key priorities for the action plan, and measures to ensure the consistency of federal laws with the Declaration and annual reporting on progress.

The Act requires the action plan to include measures:

to address injustices, combat prejudice and eliminate all forms of violence, racism and discrimination against Indigenous peoples, including elders, youth, children, persons with disabilities, women, men and gender-diverse and two-spirit persons
to promote mutual respect and understanding, as well as good relations, including through human rights education
related to the monitoring, oversight, follow up, recourse or remedy or other accountability with respect to the implementation of the Declaration
for monitoring the implementation of the plan itself and for reviewing and amending the plan

The Act specifically outlines key areas that the Government of Canada must consult on and cooperate with Indigenous peoples in order to meet the requirements of the Act.

To assist, there are a series of questions, a list of themes of the Declaration, and an engagement kit available to help guide discussions and input related to each of the legal obligations contained in the Act.

This collaborative work will complement other initiatives underway across Canada with Indigenous partners to close socio-economic gaps, advance reconciliation and renew relationships based on the affirmation of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership.