The federal government has announced $340 million in new funding over five years to support Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship. This includes more than $173 million for Guardians programs. And it represents a major increase from previous funding for Guardians—up from the $25 million over five years pilot investment in 2017.

Guardians programs help strengthen ourselves and our Nations after decades of colonization. “The mass graves opened up wounds in our own community and across the country,” said Chief Heidi Cook of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in Manitoba. “Maintaining our relationships with the land is healing for a lot of our people. Going back to those natural laws and feeling the love that the land has for us—feeling the belonging in our space—that's the important thing.”