Introduction

In 2021, through the enactment of the UN Declaration Act, the Government of Canada committed to a legislated framework for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The UN Declaration Act sets out a framework for implementation premised on consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples. This framework includes the obligation to take all measures necessary to ensure that existing and new federal laws are consistent with the UN Declaration, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples (section 5 of the UN Declaration Act).

In addition, the Government of Canada is committed to taking effective measures, including policy and administrative measures, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to achieve the objectives of the UN Declaration.

In order to contribute to fulfilling these commitments, consideration of the UN Declaration is necessary for legislative and regulatory initiatives, and it is strongly recommended that a UN Declaration consistency analysis be completed for every MC. Assessing consistency with the UN Declaration is a policy assessment, informed by legal considerations, that can be conducted primarily by the official leading the policy proposal.

Implementing the UN Declaration means amplifying Indigenous voices and perspectives. Those voices and perspectives should be central to the assessment of a proposal’s consistency with the UN Declaration.

A meaningful analysis requires that adequate time be given to this process, and that departments remain open to making changes in response to findings and consultations. Throughout the departmental activity cycle, from strategic planning, to policy, program and legislative development, to implementation, evaluation and reporting, officials should demonstrate that consistency with the UN Declaration has been analyzed, documented and taken into account and, where an inconsistency has been identified, that it has been mitigated as much as possible or a mitigation plan has been developed.

Your analysis should not be completed in isolation. Mandatory analyses that drafters complete as they develop an MC, especially the Assessment of Modern Treaty Implications (AMTI) and the Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus), will likely intersect with and be relevant to your UN Declaration consistency analysis. We encourage you to draw on those analyses to enrich your assessment of consistency with the UN Declaration.