Health Disparities for Indigenous Peoples

Similarly, Indigenous Peoples experience significant health disparities in Canada and the United States which has roots in racism and colonization.

Quick Facts

Explore some of these facts about the health disparities between non-Indigenous Canadians and people who are Inuit, Métis, or First Nations.

Life Expectancy

Dataset is from 2011, unless otherwise specified.

Population	Males	Females
First Nation	72.6	77.7
Métis	76.9	82.3
Inuit	70.0	76.1
Non-Indigenous	81.4	87.3

Source: Loppie & Wien, 2022

Indigenous Overrepresentation as Victims of Crime

This table displays by type of crime. Dataset is from 2014, unless otherwise specified.

Type of Crime	Indigenous per 1000 Population	Non-Indigenous per 1000 Population
Victims of violent crime	163	74
Women as victims of violent crime	220	84
Men as victims of violent crime	110	66
Women as victims of sexual assault	115	35
Homicide Victims, 2017	8.76	1.42

Source: Loppie & Wien, 2022

Self-Reported Mental Health Scores

This table displays percentage of responders who answered ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ in response to their self-report of general health. Data set is from 2015-2016.

Population	Excellent or very good general health
First Nation on reserve	50.5
First Nation off reserve	61.3
Métis	63.5
Inuit	59.5
Non-Indigenous	71.9

Source: Loppie & Wien, 2022

Note

Where possible throughout our courses, we will reference the specific Indigenous community that a creator, scholar, or survivor comes from in order to bring attention to the diversity of experiences and cultures of Indigenous Peoples across North America.

Video: Breaking Down the Barriers Indigenous People Face in Canada's Health Care System

10:00

Samaria Cardinal, a Métis and Blackfoot social worker, discusses how the lack of knowledge of the collective trauma of Indigenous Peoples led to inappropriate treatment and negative outcomes prior to receiving the support she needed.

Intergenerational Trauma

Intergenerational trauma is experienced by many Indigenous Peoples around the world as well as other marginalized peoples or those who have experienced a collective history trauma. In a Canadian context, intergenerational trauma has impacted, continues to impact, and will continue to impact Indigenous generations in the past, present, and future due to Canada’s and the United States’s attempt at cultural genocide.

Video: The Impact of Residential Schools on Aboriginal Healthcare

13:04

In this video, Mi’kmaw scholar Dawn Tisdale discusses the impact of residential schools on Indigenous healthcare and how future generations continue to be impacted by intergenerational trauma.

Learn More

The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health has some useful infographics on social determinants for Indigenous Peoples in Canada if you’d like to learn more about the disparities faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

References

Kim P. J. (2019). Social Determinants of Health Inequities in Indigenous Canadians Through a Life Course Approach to Colonialism and the Residential School System. Health equity, 3(1), 378–381.

Loppie, C. & Wien, F. (2022). Understanding Indigenous health inequalities through a social determinants model. National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health.