Where do First Nations live in Canada?

First Nations are one of three constitutionally recognised Indigenous peoples in Canada (alongside Inuit and Metis) and represent about 1.05 million Canadians (about 2.5 per cent of the national population) according to the Statistics Canada 2021 Census. There are about 634 First Nations bands in Canada, with about 50 different Indigenous languages grouped into 12 language families. First Nations people live across all 10 provinces and 3 territories.

First Nations geographic distribution reflects historic treaty and reserve boundaries plus modern urbanisation. About 47 per cent of registered First Nations members (status Indians under the Indian Act) live on the more than 3,300 First Nations reserves managed by the federal government, and about 53 per cent live off-reserve. Major urban Indigenous populations are in Winnipeg (about 102,000 people identifying as Indigenous, the largest urban Indigenous population in Canada), Edmonton (about 80,000), Vancouver (about 65,000), Toronto (about 47,000), Calgary (about 45,000), and Saskatoon (about 40,000).

Major regional First Nations groupings include the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Peskotomuhkati, and Beothuk (extinct) in Atlantic Canada; the Innu, Naskapi, Cree, Anishinabeg, Atikamekw, Mohawk, and Algonquin in Quebec and eastern Ontario; the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe and Mississauga), Haudenosaunee (Six Nations), Oji-Cree, and Cree of Ontario; the Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Anishinabek, Dakota, Lakota, Nakoda, and Dene of Manitoba and Saskatchewan; the Blackfoot Confederacy, Stoney Nakoda, Tsuut'ina, Cree, Saulteaux, Dene, and other nations of Alberta; the Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Tsimshian, Nisga'a, Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, Tahltan, Tlingit, Haisla, Kaska Dena, Tsilhqot'in, Nlaka'pamux, Stl'atl'imx, Secwepemc, Syilx, Ktunaxa, Carrier, Wet'suwet'en, and others of British Columbia; and the Dene, Gwich'in, and others of the northern territories.

First Nations governance has been transformed in recent decades through self-government agreements, modern treaties, and First Nations-led legislation. Major self-government agreements include the Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act (1986), the Nisga'a Final Agreement (2000), the Westbank First Nation Self-Government Agreement (2003), the Tla'amin Final Agreement (2016), and many others. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action of 2015 and the federal United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act of 2021 set the broader framework for the modern Crown-First Nations relationship. Treaty 1 to Treaty 11 (1871 to 1921), the pre-Confederation Robinson and Douglas treaties, and the Maritimes Peace and Friendship Treaties (1725 to 1779) cover most of the historic treaty territory.