The never-ending effort to expand First Nation status – CBA National Magazine
May 13, 2026
The federal government has known for decades that the second-generation cut-off is legally problematic. Despite nearly three years of consultations, the minister says more are needed before addressing it
When the federal government introduced Bill S-2 into the Senate a year ago, it was largely a move to address concerns about individuals who’d been forced to give up their status under the Indian Act in exchange for owning land or voting.
As the Supreme Court of British Columbia noted in a 2025 decision, this, in turn, affected their wives and children.
During deliberations by senators, the focus broadened to address some of the Act’s biggest inequities, specifically the second-generation cut-off, a rule introduced in 1985 that prevents status from being transferred to children if both parents do not have status for two generations.
