65. Establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation

We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal Peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.

In February 2022, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation launched a national research program to advance understanding of reconciliation.

According to a NCTR release, “the collaboration will foster research on reconciliation and residential schools, done by and with Indigenous communities.”

Previously, the federal government developed a three-year plan on how to do research with Indigenous communities.

In 2020, the Canada Research Coordinating Committee released Setting New Directions to support Indigenous research and research training in Canada – Strategic Plan 2019 – 2022, co-developed with Indigenous Peoples. The committee’s objectives include “a commitment to the revision and development of the federal granting agencies’ guidelines for Indigenous research.”

These include more inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in setting priorities for federal research funding agencies, more accountability to communities by researchers and more access to grant funding for Indigenous students and researchers.