Our Counts, Our Future: Building Applied and Self-Determined First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health and Well-Being Information Systems in Urban Homelands

First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) peoples living in Canadian cities are not being "counted in". The systems that collect information about population size, health, illness, healthcare use, and living conditions either exclude or don't correctly recognize Indigenous peoples living in cities. This is a big problem since the majority of Indigenous peoples now live in cities and Indigenous peoples experience a high burden health and social challenges that doesn't improve with urban residence. A new approach to gathering FNIM health information in cities is needed. The goal of this research program is to develop, share, test and apply new models and methods to gather this information. We will do this by working together with FNIM and allied health and health information organizations at the national, regional, and city levels. We will also work to train more people who have advanced skills to do this work. Working together at a national level we will develop and share new models and standards for urban FNIM health information. At the regional level we will design and test training workshops. At the city level we will continue to build better urban FNIM datasets using some specialized methods we have developed over the past 10 years. These methods use social networks to find FNIM peoples living in cities who are otherwise hidden in the regular information systems. In this research program we will test out these methods in Winnipeg, which will be the first time that we have tested them outside of Ontario. To do this work we have gathered together a team of over 50 FNIM organizational partners and researchers from across Canada and around the world. This research program has the potential to change the way that FNIM living in cities are counted, ensuring that in the future every FNIM person is counted in, regardless of where they live. This new information will in turn improve health services for FNIM in cities, making them more effective and efficient.