Native Montreal Friendship Centre calls for improved Indigenous health support
Posted June 10, 2025 6:31 pm.
Last Updated June 12, 2025 2:25 pm.
Indigenous friendship centres are on the front lines of urban health care in Canada.
Advocates say despite their vital role, they remain underfunded and largely overlooked.
Experts are now warning the newly elected Carney government that urgent action is needed to provide stable funding and formally recognize these centres’ contribution to the healing and well-being of Indigenous communities.
Centres offering more than community programs
Friendship centres are critical hubs where Indigenous families, youth, and elders in urban areas can access a broad range of services—clinical care, traditional healing, mental health support, and social services—all under one roof.
“A friendship centre is a multi-purpose centre,” said Philippe Tsaronséré Meilleur, the executive director of Montréal Autochtone – Native Montreal.
“It’s a community centre for the urban community here in Montreal. We particularly focus on families, youth, and elders.”
While not designed specifically for homelessness outreach, the centre provides a wide array of support.
“Our wellness centre is very wide-ranging,” Meilleur said.
“We do have a medical clinic. We also have traditional health services, as well as case workers and navigators, as we call them. On the medical side, it’s about 200 patients, give or take, but we serve many more people through psychosocial and traditional health services. So, maybe it can go up to, I would say, 400 people who come in and out for different types of wellness services right now.”
A patchwork approach to funding
Meilleur described the funding for the Native Montreal Family Clinic as inconsistent and inadequate.
“The province initially funded up to $1.5 million per year,” he said.
“We’re hoping to be able to get that same kind of investment from the province and through the Ministre de la Santé. As for other funding, we also get a bit of funding from the federal government, but only to cover one position.”
The centre relies heavily on foundation grants and short-term project funding, which Meilleur says makes it difficult to plan ahead or maintain steady services.
“Different subventions come in from foundations and other levels because wellness is very wide-ranging,” he said. “So, we try to cover it through culture and different ministries too.”
Culturally safe care that’s close to home
Meilleur emphasized that trust is foundational to effective health care, something friendship centres provide through culturally sensitive and trauma-informed services — qualities he says are often absent in mainstream institutions.
“When you face a big institution, no matter how hard they train people, they will never become culturally safe,” he said. “They’re just very intimidating spaces where a lot of abuses happen. So it’s time for the federal government to step up and support our friendship centres in creating first-line services and invest in us — in health care, psychosocial support, mental health, and also traditional health.”
In contrast, centres like Native Montreal Family Clinc offer a familiar and welcoming space, Meilleur says.
“We’ve shown that when we integrate health care into our safe places, this is their home,” he said. “This is where people feel the most safe. And if they have issues, even with our services, they can directly communicate to us and changes will be made.”
Expanding services limited by capacity
The demand for services continues to grow, but resources remain limited.
“We have a doctor only two days a week and one nurse,” Meilleur said.
“There are only 200 patients as part of our clinic. There are 10,000 Indigenous people who live in Montreal, and we should be able to run a full clinic five days a week, be able to run it right now.”
He believes with adequate funding, many more could benefit.
“It’s empty for a simple reason: we just don’t have the medical capacity. So that’s one example, but there are so many more things we could do along the lines of prevention, which is what our community needs. Because for so long, we’ve been neglected.”
This issue, he said, is not unique to one clinic but reflects a national need for systemic investment.
“We want to see change where the federal government is really investing in our centres as a primary care location for so many Indigenous people that just don’t have family doctors, that don’t have first-line care, and would access that care through our more than 100 friendship centres across Canada.”
Native Montreal also offers child-friendly spaces, caseworkers, health navigators, and a special “Cedar Room” for traditional ceremonies, equipped with proper ventilation.
“This does not happen in hospitals. This is a special room that’s unique to our clinic,” Meilleur said.
The centre supports single parents during medical appointments and helps with housing, justice, and youth protection issues.
Playing a key role in crisis — and beyond
Friendship centres are also on the front lines during emergencies.
“When COVID happened, for instance, we were on the front line, helping people access multiple types of food security services and vaccination services,” Meilleur said. “That’s when people think about us, when a crisis happens. But when long-term issues persist, like youth protection and the general health of the Indigenous population, we are underfunded. And that makes no sense.”
Systemic barriers like racism, language differences, and institutional trauma continue to prevent Indigenous people from receiving safe and respectful care, Meilleur says.
“The number one thing I say is that there’s a long history with the health-care system. Many Indigenous people, when they access health care, have faced racism, neglect of their issues, or they might be going through a life-or-death situation where their cultural practices are not allowed in hospitals. So we need to be able to offer many of these services ourselves. Without that, they will face linguistic barriers, cultural barriers, and a very real fear of re-experiencing what previous generations — their parents, their elders — have experienced, which is direct abuse.”
A call for recognition and investment
For Meilleur, the path forward is clear.
“We need stable funding to build our expertise, to be that first line of response that we already are, but underfunded. So yeah, we just need more recognition for the role we’re already playing.”
He called on the federal government to formally recognize friendship centres as essential infrastructure for urban Indigenous health.
“It’s important to have long-term funding because everybody looks to us whenever anything happens with Indigenous people in the cities. And we’re just underfunded. We’re literally helping the health care system do its job.”
Looking ahead, Meilleur is hopeful the government will take meaningful steps.
“I think that this government really wants to take big actions. So they should look toward one of the biggest infrastructure and service delivery models for urban Indigenous people to make those investments.”
His message to the federal government is clear: “If we want a strong Canada, we need a strong urban Indigenous community, and we need to be recognized as key players in delivering that.”
In response, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada provided the following statement:
“ISC runs the Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP) program, which funds Indigenous organizations—like Friendship Centres—that offer culturally appropriate programs and services in cities. These services support the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of First Nations (Status and non-Status), Inuit, and Métis living in urban areas. ISC is committed to making sure Indigenous Peoples have access to the care and support they need, wherever they live.
“When it comes to Indigenous health, the federal, provincial, and territorial governments all play a role. Through Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), the Government of Canada provide and funds health services for First Nations and Inuit that go beyond what provinces and territories offer. This includes things like primary health care in First Nations communities, health promotion, and extra health benefits.
“ISC predominantly supports health services in First Nations communities and funds community health programs for Inuit in Inuit Nunangat. However, the department does provide non-insured health benefits—like dental care, vision care, and medical travel—for eligible First Nations and recognized Inuit, no matter where they live in Canada, including urban centres.”
