Revised: December 18, 2025
Originally published: October 19, 2023

Personal information related to the annual claims under Memorandum of Agreement Respecting Welfare Programs for Indians

The Memorandum of Agreement Respecting Welfare Programs for Indians between the governments of Canada and the Province of Ontario (the “1965 Agreement”) provides that the Federal Government will contribute a certain percentage of costs incurred by the province for provision of services to “Indians with reserve status”. Under the terms of the 1965 Agreement, all provincial claims for cost shared programs must be certified by an auditor for each fiscal year. This certification of Ontario’s annual claims has been ongoing since 1966.

Programs reimbursed under the 1965 Agreement include but are not limited to:

  • Ontario Works
  • Child Care
  • Homemakers and Nurses Services
  • Child and Family Services

As part of the certification, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) is required to collect personal information from agencies, children’s aid societies (societies) and First Nations delivering cost-shared social service programs for the purpose of certifying its annual 1965 Agreement financial claims by cross-referencing client information against the Federal Government’s Indian Register to verify client eligibility for cost-sharing. A third-party firm has been retained to conduct the certification and will be the entity collecting this personal information on behalf of the ministry.

What kinds of information are collected

For MCCSS to certify its claims under the 1965 Agreement, agencies, societies, and First Nations delivering provincial social service programs that are covered by the 1965 Agreement may be selected by the third-party firm and asked to provide personal information to the third-party firm, including:

  • identifying information for children, youth, families, and individuals receiving services in these programs, including names, dates of birth, Indian Registry System Number, First Nation, and addresses
  • case information for certification purposes, for children, youth, families, and individuals receiving services under these programs, such as client identifiers(s), start/end dates, financial information
  • demographic information such as gender

How personal information is collected and used

A third-party firm acting on behalf of the ministry is collecting the personal information from agencies, First Nations delivering social service programs and Indigenous and non-Indigenous societies in limited scope and sample sizes to conduct the 1965 Agreement certification. The third-party firm will not share any personal information that it collects with the ministry and all personal information collected will be securely destroyed by the third-party firm once all applicable requirements are met. The ministry will receive aggregate information only for the purpose of reconciling its annual claim with Indigenous Services Canada.

To maintain the privacy of children, youth, families, and individuals, use of personal information collected by the third-party firm will be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes of the certification, namely, that which is necessary for the certification of the 1965 Agreement in compliance with applicable laws.

The collection of this personal information is authorized under subsection 38(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Questions about this notice

Questions about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for the purposes of cross-referencing against the federal government’s Indian Register and to facilitate the certification of shared cost programs as part of the 1965 Agreement may be directed to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services’ Controllership and Fiscal Reporting Branch:

Controllership and Fiscal Reporting Branch
Business Planning and Corporate Services Division
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
4th Floor, 315 Front Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 0B8