Nearly 60 Percent of First Nations Non-Compliant With Federal Audit Rules: Report

A Canadian flag hangs over the ceremonial entrance at the B.C. legislature as people walk about in Victoria, on March 7, 2025. The Canadian Press/Chad Hipolito

Fifty-nine percent of First Nations in fiscal 2024-2025 failed to comply with financial transparency legislation, despite Ottawa spending more than $32 billion on indigenous issues across the country that year, a new Fraser Institute report has found.

First Nations are required under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA), passed by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2013, to publicly disclose their audited consolidated financial statements and a schedule of the remuneration and expenses paid to their chiefs and councillors.