Residential school survivors and advocates are warning that the search for missing children and unmarked burials is facing an existential threat, as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) plans possible spending cuts of nearly 70 per cent in the next four years.

CIRNAC’s forecast spending for the 2024-25 fiscal year reached a total of $17.9 billion; however, planned spending for the next three years, released in June, suggests a dim future, dropping to $5.5 billion by 2027-28. These figures exclude any future changes. A fall budget could add funding, even as Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has asked federal departments to find 15 per cent in savings over the next three years.