Former Bill C-38, An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements)
Find out what the Government of Canada is doing to address remaining inequities in registration and First Nations membership under the Indian Act.
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Update on Bill C-38
On January 6, 2025, Parliament was prorogued until March 24, 2025. As a result, all government bills under review in the House of Commons and Senate "die" on the Order Paper, meaning their progress up to that point is lost.
Former Bill C-38, which was at second reading in the House of Commons and had not received royal assent, is among the bills that have died on the Order Paper. To advance the legislative amendments proposed in former Bill C-38, the bill must be reintroduced in a new session as a new bill.
Indigenous Services Canada remains committed to supporting the introduction and passage of the legislative amendments contained in former Bill C-38, as mandated by Chapter 2, Action Plan Measure 2.7 in the United Nations Declaration Act Action Plan.
Bill C-38, An Act to amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements)
Introduced on December 14, 2022, the legislative amendments in former Bill C-38 sought to:
- address the inequity of enfranchisement
- enable deregistration by application
- create a mechanism to allow women and their descendants to reaffiliate with the band they were affiliated with at birth
- remove some outdated and offensive language from the Indian Act
If the contents of former Bill C-38 are reintroduced and passed as a new bill, the legislative amendments would:
- ensure persons with a family history of enfranchisement will be treated the same as those without
- enable persons who wish to have their names removed from the Indian Register to apply for deregistration
- enable women who were automatically transferred to their husbands' band to seek reaffiliation with their natal band
- women and their direct descendants may apply
- remove dated references to "mentally incompetent Indians"
Changes in entitlement to registration
Due to the prorogation of parliament, Bill C-38 will not proceed and must be reintroduced as a new bill in a future session of parliament. At this time, the legislative amendments proposed in Bill C-38 cannot be applied to registration applications or protests.
Applications currently on hold will remain on hold until there is greater clarity about the status of the proposed legislative amendments. Indigenous Services Canada will review this approach once parliament resumes and provide further updates at that time.
To find out how to apply for registration, visit Register under the Indian Act.
Contact us
To find out more about the former Bill C-38, please email engagementinscriptionpn-fnregistrationengagement@sac-isc.gc.ca.