Removed Native children in foster homes reached 27,000 in 2006 and surpassed the number of children who were being forcibly removed from their families during the height of the residential school era.

On 25 February 2013, a hearing before the Canadian Human Rights Commission was held to examine whether Ottawa is treating native children unfairly. Shawn Atleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was one of the first people to testify. He alleged that studies have shown that the provinces provide welfare to other Canadian children at rates 22% higher than the amount given by the federal government to first nations children and hold Ottawa responsible for social assistance on Aboriginal reserves where the levels of poverty and the associated problems are higher than most other places in Canada. In a phone interview, Mr. Atleo said that the numbers of children from reserves in foster care – estimated at 27,000 in 2006 – has surpassed the number of children who were being forcibly removed from their families during the height of the residential school era. They are being deprived of their language, their culture and the places they call home. The federal government’s refusal to provide equitable child welfare on reserves is forcing thousands of youth into foster care and ripping families apart in ways that echo the notorious residential school system of previous decades, says the head of the organization that represents Canada’s first nations.