How does the Constitution recognise the Métis?

The Constitution Act, 1982 recognises the Métis as one of three Aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35(2) (alongside First Nations and Inuit). The Métis Nation's distinct legal status was further confirmed by the 2003 R. v. Powley Supreme Court of Canada decision (recognising Métis Aboriginal hunting rights) and the 2016 Daniels v. Canada decision (treating Métis and non-status Indians as 'Indians' under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 for federal jurisdictional purposes). Together these constitutional and judicial recognitions form the foundation of modern Métis-Crown relations.

The Métis are a distinct Aboriginal people with a distinctive history, language (Michif), territory (the Métis Homeland of the western prairies and parts of British Columbia, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories), political institutions (the Métis Nation, the Manitoba Métis Federation, the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, the Métis Nation of Alberta, the Métis Nation British Columbia, the Métis Nation of Ontario, and others). Métis identity emerged in the late 1700s and early 1800s in the western Canadian fur trade as a distinct people of mixed European (mostly French) and Indigenous (mostly Cree, Saulteaux, and other First Nations) ancestry.

Constitutional recognition of the Métis took several stages. The 1869 to 1870 Red River Resistance and the Manitoba Act of 1870 had established Métis land and language rights in Manitoba. The 1880s western Métis migration (particularly to Saskatchewan) and the 1885 North-West Rebellion produced extensive Métis claims. The 1885 execution of Louis Riel, the failure of the Manitoba Act's section 31 land grants (the federal government's failure to implement the Métis children's land grants), and the Métis scrip system (a process by which Métis received individual scrip certificates exchangeable for land or money, in exchange for extinguishing collective Aboriginal claims) all reduced Métis collective rights through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Constitution Act, 1982's section 35 framework restored constitutional recognition. Section 35(1) recognises and affirms 'existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada'. Section 35(2) defines 'Aboriginal peoples of Canada' to include the Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada. R. v. Powley (Supreme Court of Canada, September 19, 2003) recognised the constitutional Métis right to hunt for food in the Sault Ste. Marie area of Ontario; the Powley test for Métis rights remains the leading test (recognised Métis community, ancestral connection, and acceptance by the community). Manitoba Métis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Supreme Court of Canada, March 8, 2013) found the federal government had breached its duty to implement Métis land grants under section 31 of the Manitoba Act of 1870. Daniels v. Canada (Supreme Court of Canada, April 14, 2016) held that Métis and non-status Indians fall within section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, opening the way to federal recognition of Métis rights. The federal Métis Nation Accord of 2017 began a new framework of federal-Métis relations.