Introduction
Accurate population counts are essential to planning and delivering responsive public services. Canada is usually regarded as having excellent quality and very relevant health and social statistics. However, there is an egregious gap when it comes to information on Indigenous peoples, including First Nations. These defects in data infrastructure can have serious consequences, including undermining First Nation citizens’ right to be counted and depriving First Nations governments of key information on health and social inequities useful for designing effective services. In addressing data gaps, however, it is of utmost importance the First Nations principles of ownership, control access, and possession (OCAP®) are upheld. First Nations have sovereignty over their own data and the foremost use of collecting accurate information should assist First Nations governments in designing self-determined public services.
There are primarily two major sources for population figures for First Nations individuals: the Indian Register and the Census of Population. These cover both First Nations persons living on-reserve and those living off-reserve. Data sources like these have been used in the development, delivery, and funding of public services for First Nations. Ensuring accurate population numbers is essential to well-designed programs and responsive service delivery. These numbers, however, diverge considerably.
Indian Register (Indian Status Registry)
The Indian Register or Indian Status Registry is an official record, maintained by the Government of Canada, of persons registered under section 6 of the Indian Act. Those on the Register are regarded as having “Indian Status” by Canada. It should be noted that “Indian” has a precise legal definition under the Indian Act. At the aggregate Canada-wide level, there is very high overlap between those with Status and those who are citizens of a First Nation (or “band members”) but the two concepts are not identical. Register counts have been used to allocate federal funds to First Nations.
The Register is a continuous, legal administrative file. The main function of the Register is to record individual names and other data based on parameters set by the Indian Act. It was not built for statistical analysis. The Register records those living on-reserve and off-reserve. There can be lags in updating the file, such as recent births of individuals eligible for Status registration or recent deaths. How changes in residence, such as moving off-reserve, are incorporated in the file often varies from nation to nation.
Canada publishes Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence reports, summarizing aggregate data in the Register, for Dec. 31st of each year. Below is a graph of some Canada-wide figures for the First Nations population living on and off reserve from 2011 to 2021.
The Registry reports includes population summaries by Region. As an example, the Dec. 31, 2021 count lists 80,399 registered First Nations living on-reserve for the Alberta Region and 54,428 living off-reserve for the Alberta Region. Registered individuals are organized into Regions based on the location of their registry group, which is usually the location of their First Nation (or “band”). This implies those living on-reserve for the Alberta Region can generally be regarded as living within that Region. However, for the off-reserve population of the Alberta Region members may be in other Regions or even out of country. For example, a person recorded in the Register as an off-reserve member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation could be residing in Montreal or even Shanghai.
Work between Canada and First Nations has begun on reforming the Status Registration, Band Membership, and First Nation citizenship systems. The end goal, as expressed in a document produced by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, is for the federal government to get “out of the business of Indian registration, band membership and First Nation citizenship”. Rather, First Nations would have sole responsibility for determining the identity of their citizens. This could lead to a future where First Nations are sole owners and stewards of their citizenship figures and data.
Census of Population
The Census of Population is conducted every five years by Statistics Canada. It provides a detailed and comprehensive statistical picture of Canada and is an important source of sociodemographic data. It covers all people who usually live in Canada, including people who live on First Nations, those who live in Inuit communities, permanent residents, and non-permanent residents. The census collects information on Indigenous Identity, including specific identity groups such as First Nations, Métis, and the Inuit, as well as Registered or Treaty status, and First Nation citizenship (“band membership”), among other variables.
Census vs. Register Numbers
Statistics Canada notes the Census and Register are produced for different purposes and are therefore not directly comparable. There is, however, large discrepancies between the Register and Census figures and evidence suggests First Nations citizens and other Indigenous peoples are undercounted in censuses. Statistics Canada notes that at the end of 2016, there were 23,000 persons on the Register whose residence were listed as outside of Canada. This amounts to just over 2 per cent of the 970,562 persons listed on the Register for Dec. 31, 2016.
The following table shows Registered First Nations living on-reserve according to the census, conducted in May 2021 for the vast majority of communities, compared with the Register Count from Dec. 31st of the prior year (December 2020). There is great difference with the Register counts showing many more Registered First Nations living on-reserve.
Statistics Canada estimates 27,371 persons were not counted in First Nations reserves that fully participated in the 2016 census. Meanwhile, 14 reserves that had an estimated 27,790 persons according to a Statistics Canada model were incompletely enumerated in 2016. For 2021, the number of reserves regarded as incompletely enumerated increased to 63. Further technical details on the Indigenous population count for the 2021 census will be released in spring 2024. Federal government documents acquired through an Access to Information request, however, suggest there were unique challenges and issues with the on-reserve First Nations data quality for 2021. These include issues with in-person enumeration (often critical in remote reserves) due to wildfires, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reaction to discoveries of unmarked residential school graves.
Challenges of Counting First Nations, On- and Off-Reserve
In a 2001 conference paper presented to the American Statistical Association, Susan Lavin of the U.S. Bureau of the Census and Pierre Gauthier of Statistics Canada noted there are many unique challenges in conducting censuses on reserves. It was noted certain factors, such as remoteness and language barriers, which led the U.S. census to undercount reserves are also present in Canada, but “amplified.”
“The remoteness of over one thousand small reserves, coupled with the lack of reliable maps, nonexistent roads, and seasonal migration of some Bands pose significant logistical challenges to conducting a census.”
Necessary protocols, such as receiving permission from First Nations leadership before entering a community and partnering with First Nations entities, were noted. Innovations, such as the use of early February to April enumeration for northern areas where populations tend to migrate out of community in May, were also touched on.
First Nations living on-reserve face unique challenges when it comes to censuses, but issues with First Nations population figures are not limited to just those living on reserves. Indigenous peoples in general may be a “hard to reach” population for census counting. High mobility among First Nations and other Indigenous peoples may present challenges when applying census concepts such as “usual place of residence,” for example. A 2017 study suggests the Indigenous population of Toronto was undercounted by a rough factor of 2 to 4.
Reliable population figures for First Nations peoples are crucial to designing and delivering essential services. Improvements must be made. It is essential, however, that any changes be made within a framework of First Nations data governance and self-determination.