Thank you.
Madam Chair and honourable members, we are pleased that your committee is studying the opportunities for aboriginal persons in the workforce and specifically the supports available to them through the Government of Canada. We're glad to have the opportunity to contribute to your study by describing some of the initiatives that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has been undertaking in this regard.
I will focus my remarks on the programming changes that we're making to social and education programming. Allan Clarke will be talking about the lands and economic development sector of our department.
In the labour market context, equipping first nations people with the skills and opportunities they need to fully participate in the economy is a priority for the Government of Canada, as it is for first nations. In his presentation, James, from Employment and Social Development Canada, has outlined for you some of the key labour market drivers and barriers that exist for aboriginal persons. It is fair to say that the statistics and demographics are well known: persistent high unemployment rates, coupled with the youngest and fastest growing population. More than 600,000 aboriginal youth could enter the labour market by 2026.
We would only add a couple of other comparative statistics. The graduation rate for first nations students is 38%, compared to 87% for the non-aboriginal population. Moreover, the rate of dependency on income assistance is 35% for first nations living on reserve, compared to a 5% average nationally for the country as a whole. This dynamic underlines some of the programming reforms that we are pursuing which have the objective of aligning on-reserve social and education programming to the kinds of systems and supports that have been developed by provincial governments.
Our collective efforts in income assistance reform were mentioned earlier by James. Since the mid-1990s, provincial and territorial governments have been evolving their social assistance regimes away from what is called a passive approach of simply providing benefits to those who qualify, toward a more active approach of working with individuals toward long-term labour market attachment.
In recent years Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development has been facilitating similar approaches among first nations who were interested in experimenting with such active measures, as we call them. This was pursued largely through pilot projects or partnerships with industry and provinces, but not on any comprehensive or sustained basis.
The investments in economic action plan 2013, the $241 million over four years, launch a significant improvement to the on-reserve income assistance program toward an active case-managed approach that aligns better with provincial practices. This funding is in addition to the $861 million in expenditures in 2012-13 for current programming. This includes basic income assistance, which has been growing at a rate of approximately 4% annually.
Here's what we mean by a change in approach. Currently, the majority of first nations delivering the income assistance program do not provide people with the support necessary to help them enter the workforce. Instead, the focus is solely on an assessment of a person's eligibility, and if that person qualifies, payments of benefits. This arrangement does not help young first nation men and women access training programs, improve their skills, and find, keep, and reap the benefits of good jobs.
The government intends to support first nations youth to get training and jobs before they come to rely on income assistance over the long term. Under enhanced service delivery, the $132 million portion of the fund that is to be administered by my department, first nations, or in most cases aggregated first nations organizations, will establish a case management system whereby case workers will work with individuals to help identify barriers to employment and to develop a personalized case plan to address those barriers. This case management will involve several steps, including intake, employability assessment, development of a mandatory action plan, and in many cases referral to a training opportunity.
The referral step is where our partnership with Employment and Social Development Canada comes into play. Case-managed income assistance clients who are recommended for training will be referred to a first nations job fund-supported organization. As Mr. Sutherland's presentation described, the first nations job fund is to be administered by Employment and Social Development Canada, primarily through the existing ASETS delivery network. This will help ensure that existing resources, connections, and networks are leveraged to the extent possible and that first nations organizations themselves are not put in a position of having to reinvent the wheel of established links with local training facilities and employers.
Enhanced service delivery and the new first nations job fund were designed to complement each other to improve the on-reserve income assistance program. The improved program will help ensure that young clients, age 18 to 24 years, who can work, have the incentives to participate in the training necessary for them to gain employment. The income assistance benefits of young clients will depend on participation in the necessary training as per current practices in most provinces.
The government expects that implementation of these improvements to the delivery of the on-reserve income assistance program will be incremental, initially focusing on willing and ready first nation service providers. We have been getting a good response from first nations wishing to participate in this new approach. Some 26 of 36 first nation organizations solicited to submit proposals for the first intake round met the deadline. Those organizations represent more than 70 first nation communities.
I will now talk about the education reform. While the income assistance reform focuses on youth aged 18-24, the link between educational attainment and labour market attachment is strong and therefore suggests a focus on primary and secondary education.
Here too the Government of Canada has been implementing a comprehensive reform effort to ensure that First Nations students have access to the same opportunities as all Canadians in terms of the education they receive. First Nations students on reserve are the only students in North America with no legal framework underpinning their education, and no formal system in place to ensure a quality education.
That is why, in Economic Action Plan 2012 and 2013, the government committed to develop new legislation for First Nations elementary and secondary education that would establish the structures and standards to support strong and accountable education systems on reserve.
The proposed legislation would provide First Nations control over First Nations education, allowing them or their education authorities to develop and deliver curricula that reflect their unique linguistic and cultural needs and interests, while ensuring education standards are equivalent in quality to school systems off reserve.
The draft legislative proposal is intended to improve First Nations student outcomes, to ensure they are able to graduate with a high school diploma and are equipped with the skills and tools they need to go on to post-secondary education or to enter the labour market. Greater education attainment will inevitably lead to greater participation in the workforce.
I will now turn the floor over to Mr. Allan Clarke, director general, lands and economic development, to continue the discussion on the department's role in ensuring aboriginal people are training and employed through the skills and partnership fund and other economic development programming.