A national organization that supports more than 100 services centres for Indigenous people across Canada is asking Ottawa $25 million over the next five years in Budget 2026 to expand its role in delivering federal programs, including employment and skills initiatives for young Indigenous people. 

“Every year, nearly one million Indigenous people turn to Friendship Centres for support, our programs help train people for jobs, get jobs and stay in them,” Jennifer Rankin, CEO of the National Association of Friendship Centers said Wednesday. 

The funding would help the network build partnerships with federal departments on employment and skills training, housing and infrastructure, youth development and emergency preparedness. 

The request comes six months after Ottawa committed $168 million over five years to stabilize the network, after its core funding provided through the Urban Programming for Indigenous People ended in March. 

But Rankin said NAFC wants to use that stable funding as a foundation to expand its work with departments beyond Indigenous Services Canada. 

“We don’t want to rely just solely on Indigenous Services, we want to expand our partnership across all federal departments,” she said. 

One focus is Canada’s growing population of young Indigenous people. According to the 2021 census, Rankin said, there are roughly 550,000 Indigenous people between the ages of 15 and 34, with the vast majority living off reserve or away from their home communities. 

“If we want to expand our economy, we need more of these young people to be well educated and well-trained to work in it,” Rankin said. 

NAFC has also opened its doors to non-Indigenous folks. The organization saw a 30 per cent increase in newcomers to the center last year, Rankin said. 

Asked how the organization arrived at the $25-million figure, Rankin said the money would help build the capacity needed to plan projects, conduct research and develop proposals with other federal departments. 

The organization is also pushing for greater certainty around its core federal funding after some Friendship Centres were forced to lay off staff ahead of Ottawa’s latest funding commitment. 

The $168-million investment was not announced until March 27, just days before the end of the fiscal year. 

Rankin said some executive directors began laying off staff roughly three months earlier because they didn’t know when or whether the next round of federal funding would arrive. 

“Being fiscally responsible, there were some executive directors that did have to do layoffs,” she said.

In a statement sent to iPolitics, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty’s office pointed to the $168 million over five years announced earlier this year, saying the investment supports Friendship Centres as Ottawa works with Indigenous partners to transfer more responsibility for service delivery to Indigenous organizations.

The funding is on top of $27.5 million in annual federal support for Friendship Centre operations, according to the minister’s office.

“The work of organizations like NAFC is critical in ensuring that Indigenous Peoples across the country have access to the services and supports they need,” the statement said.

The minister’s office did not directly address NAFC’s request for an additional $25 million in Budget 2026.