A new Indigenous substantiation framework will be introduced at the University of Toronto to help ensure that opportunities and material benefit intended for Indigenous Peoples reach the communities they are meant to serve. The framework is outlined in the Indigenous Substantiation Recommendations Report, which was recently finalized following consultation with the University community and external partners.
“Guided by Indigenous community, the new framework focuses on substantiating claims to Indigenous Membership, Citizenship, and Enrolment, rather than verifying who is or is not Indigenous,” says Shannon Simpson, Senior Director of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. “The University’s role is to seek substantial, community-recognized evidence aligned with Nation-defined standards, as an essential safeguard against Indigenous identity fraud.”
Simpson adds that substantiation is a respectful, community-informed approach that reviews evidence of an applicant’s connection to an Indigenous rights-bearing Nation when that connection is prioritized or required for eligibility. “The process centres on documentation, kinship, and lived experience recognized by Indigenous communities, ensuring that claims are assessed in ways that honour cultural integrity and community-defined protocols.”
Simpson says the framework reflects longstanding community concerns about safeguarding material benefit intended to support and advance Indigenous students, faculty members, staff, librarians, and communities. It also responds to a broader need across Canadian institutions to ensure that Indigenous-specific opportunities reach the communities they are meant to serve.
“This was really driven by the community expressing the need to develop a clear and accountable process, ” says Simpson. “What is critical about these processes is that they are, first and foremost, solely and fully Indigenous-led.”
The new framework reflects the guidance and collective expertise of the Indigenous Identity Substantiation Committee, a group co-chaired by Simpson and Knowledge Holder Bonnie Jane Maracle, and composed of Indigenous staff, faculty members, students, Elders, and leadership. Extensive engagement took place with U of T’s Indigenous staff, faculty members and librarians in addition to engagement with Indigenous students, the Elders Circle, neighbouring First Nations and Metis and Inuit groups.
Established in 2023, the Committee’s work aligns with the University’s broader commitments to reconciliation and accountability, as articulated in the Wecheehetowin: Final Report of the Steering Committee on the University of Toronto Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2017). The framework draws on extensive engagement with Indigenous communities within and beyond the University and responds to community-identified concerns about ensuring that Indigenous-specific opportunities are accessed by the Nations and Peoples for whom they are intended.
As part of the development of the process, the University will establish memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with rights-bearing First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities to support respectful, Nation-to-Nation processes for cross-verifying Membership, Citizenship, or Enrolment. These agreements will outline community-defined protocols for how information is shared and confirmed, ensuring that verification occurs directly with the Nations themselves. The Office of Indigenous Initiatives will continue developing additional MOUs throughout implementation, expanding partnerships with Indigenous communities so that substantiation is informed by the governance and decision-making authority of the Nations to whom our community and partners belong.
U of T’s framework aligns with approaches emerging at universities across Canada, while incorporating the distinct guidance shared by Indigenous communities and University partners during the engagement process.
Further details about the substantiation pathways will be shared as the process is developed on the Office of Indigenous Initiatives’ website.