In addition to transfer payments to First Nations, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has funding arrangements with organizations which benefit Aboriginal people in Canada. These organizations fall into three categories:

1. Provincial-Territorial Organizations (PTOs) - examples of these include the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and Chiefs of Ontario.
2. Aboriginal Political Organizations - examples of national organizations: Assembly of First Nations, Native Women's Association of Canada, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

Funding for these groups is divided into two categories: core funding and project funding.

Core funding is the base amount transferred from INAC to an organization to help with costs associated with daily operations. This can include, but is not limited to, rent payments, salaries for staff, internet access, phone and fax bills, and so on.

On occasion these organizations undertake specific or joint initiatives, either initiated by their membership, leadership or requested by a level of government, which contributes to Aboriginal policy development. These projects have specific start and end dates, and require the submission of workplans to be reviewed by the Department prior to funds being approved. Any funding that is transferred to support these initiatives is called project funding.

Funding for organizations can come solely from core funding or from project funding, or it may be a combination of the two.

Accredited auditors prepare annual consolidated audits which are made available to the members of these organizations and provided to the department.

Currently, funding for political organizations and PTOs is negotiated on an annual basis, which means discussions need to happen before the beginning of each fiscal year. This can lead to uncertainty as to levels of funding. Currently the Department is reviewing ways to make funding to these organizations more stable and predictable, which will benefit all parties in terms of predicting workload and reducing the amount of time spent discussing funding issues.

July 2001

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