Congress of Aboriginal Peoples

Its head office is located in the capital, Ottawa, Ontario. The congress works with its affiliate organizations on issues that affect the Aboriginal peoples of Canada who live off-reserve. Affiliates of the congress have their own constitutions with some being separately funded through the Métis and Non-Status Indian Relations Directorate of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. The Métis and Non-Status Indian Relations Directorate works primarily with Aboriginal political organizations who represent the interests of Métis and non-status Indians (MNSI) and other off-reserve Aboriginal organizations.

The congress administers the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS), which links training to labour market demand. ASETS is designed to help Aboriginal people who live off-reserve prepare for and find high-demand jobs.

Significant events

After the collapse of the National Indian Council in 1968 the executives of provincial Metis and Non-Status Indian associations of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba met in December 1970 to found the Native Council of Canada. Its constitution was completed in February 1971 and the organization opened its offices in Ottawa not long afterwards. The organization had to balance the (often divergent) interests of Metis and Non-Status Indian organizations in order maintain its membership and secure core funding from the Canadian state.

In 1983 the Métis split from the Native Council of Canada, a pan-Aboriginal coalition, to form the Métis National Council as a Métis-specific representative group. The founding affiliates of the Métis National Council were the Métis Association of Alberta, the Association of Métis and Non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan, the Manitoba Metis Federation, the Louis Riel Métis Association of British Columbia, the Robinson-Superior Métis Association, and the Alberta Federation of the Métis Settlement Associations.

In 1993 the Native Council of Canada was reorganized and renamed as the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP).

On April 14, 2016 a landmark ruling by the Federal Court of Canada affirmed the position of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples that Métis and Non-status are Indians with rights under the Constitution. The Federal Court Action was launched in 1999 by Harry Daniels, Leah Gardner, and the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. This decision could have a significant effect on the relationship between the Government of Canada and the Aboriginal Peoples who live off-reserve.

The organization briefly changed its name to the Indigenous Peoples Assembly of Canada for seven months in 2016. This was reversed in October 2016 after the national chief associated with the name change, Dwight Dorey, was defeated in a bid for reelection. Robert Bertrand won the election to national chief.