Bill S-2: Addressing Enfranchisement Inequities and other Updates to the Indian Act
- Coasthaven Law
- Jun 26
- 7 min read
By: Laura Edwards
Executive Summary
On May 29, 2025, the Senate introduced Bill S-2: An Act to Amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements). This Bill will address outstanding inequities around status registration and enfranchisement for individuals and their descendants, natal band membership for women, voluntary relinquishment of status, and update outdated language related to dependant people.
What Does This Mean for First Nations and Individuals?
Should Bill S-2 pass into law the amendments will have impacts on First Nation communities and individuals.
For Individuals:
More people will become eligible for Indian status, even if previously denied.
Applicants who were previously denied status on the basis of family enfranchisement may be approved if they reapply.
Women and children can regain band memberships for their natal community and receive the benefits that flow from the legal recognition of their membership in their natal community.
Individuals who want to give up their status can apply to have it removed.
For First Nations:
Potential population increases from additional registrants and individuals gaining band membership may impact service delivery, housing, programming, and governance.
Communities with membership codes under Section 10 of the Indian Act may need to update or clarify rules to address new registration entitlements.
Governance questions may arise around who qualifies for band membership vs. who is registered under the Indian Act.
How Coasthaven Law Can Support You
We understand the complexities arising from registration (status) entitlements and membership issues rooted in the Indian Act. We offer support with:
Indian Act status applications and appeals
Membership code development or review
Legal workshops to explain the legislative changes
If you are an individual navigating the status registration process or a First Nation who wishes to develop or amend your membership code we can help. Contact us for a respectful, no-pressure free consultation about your next steps.
What is Bill S-2 - An Act to Amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements)?
On May 29, 2025, the Senate introduced Bill S-2: An Act to Amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements) [1] This Bill replaces Bill C-38 which was tabled in 2022 but did not pass before the last federal government was dissolved in March 2025.[2] The primary purpose of Bill S-2 is to address registration entitlement (also called “status”) for individuals enfranchised under earlier versions of the Indian Act, and ongoing inequity around registration for families with a history of enfranchisement. If passed, as many as 3500 individuals could be eligible for status who were previously ineligible. [3] The Bill will also address natal band membership for women, voluntary relinquishment of status, and update outdated language related to dependant people.
In summary, Bill S-2 will:
expand registration entitlement to more categories of enfranchised individuals;
allow enfranchised individuals to pass on status to their descendants in the same manner as individuals without a history of enfranchisement;
allow individuals to apply for the removal of their name from the Indian Register (give up their status voluntarily);
allow women involuntarily transferred from their natal band membership upon marriage to transfer back to the band they were born into; and
remove outdated and offensive language for dependant persons.
Key Proposed Changes
1. Enfranchisement
Bill S-3 proposes to broaden registration entitlement for enfranchised individuals and extend registration entitlement to their descendants. Should the Bill pass, individuals previously denied status on the basis that their ancestor had enfranchised may be eligible registration, even if they had previously been denied.
What is Enfranchisement?
Enfranchisement was an assimilation policy first introduced in 1857 and removed from the Indian Act in 1985. The purpose of enfranchisement was to gradually remove the legal distinction between Indians and non-Indians with the effect that, in time, would eliminate the recognition of “Indians” by the federal government and fully absorb Indigenous peoples into colonial society. Once enfranchised, an individual lost all the benefits of having status and being on their band list, such as the right to live on a reserve, access to band resources, and the ability to pass on status to their children.
Individuals were involuntarily enfranchised for several reasons including for going to university, living outside of Canada for more than 5 years, or if the Superintendent General determined an individual was “fit” for enfranchisement. Women and children were also subject to involuntary enfranchisement if their husband or father applied for enfranchisement or if the women married a non-status man. Finally, individuals could voluntarily apply for enfranchisement to get benefits, such as Canadian citizenship or the right to hold land in fee simple.
Existing Inequalities Arising from Enfranchisement.
The Indian Act does not treat all individuals enfranchised under previous version of the Act or their descendants equally. While some categories of enfranchised individuals are eligible to register for status, others remain excluded, creating ongoing discrimination and fractured entitlements within families.
The current Act only permits the registration of individuals that were enfranchised for the following reasons:
women (and their children) who lost their status by marrying non-status men;
individuals who moved to a foreign country without permission from the Department for more than 5 years;
individuals who went to university for any degree;
individuals who became a lawyer or notary public; and
individuals who became a priest or minister.
Individuals who were involuntarily enfranchised when their band applied for, and was granted, enfranchisement are not eligible to register for status. As well, individuals who voluntarily applied for enfranchisement are excluded from registration.
Of the above categories of enfranchised individuals who are eligible for registration, only the women and children who lost their status upon marriage to a non-status man may pass on status to their descendants. The descendants of individuals enfranchised for any other reason are not entitled to register for status, even if their ancestor is entitled to registration.
How Will Bill S-2 Address Inequity Arising from Enfranchisement?
Bil S-2 will address the existing enfranchisement inequities related to status by broadening registration entitlement for enfranchised individuals and extend registration entitlement to all descendants of enfranchised individuals.
Bill S-2 will amend s. 6(1)(a.1) of the Indian Act to extend registration entitlement to individuals who were involuntarily enfranchised when their band applied and was granted enfranchisement. The amendments to s. 6(1)(a.1) will also extend registration entitlement to individuals who are descended from individuals who were enfranchised for the following reasons:
they resided in a foreign country for 5 years without permission;
they went to university for any degree;
they became a doctor, lawyer, notary public, priest, or minister;
their band voluntarily enfranchised ;
they applied for enfranchisement; and
their husband or father voluntarily applied for and was granted enfranchisement.
This means that descendants of enfranchised individuals who were previously excluded from registration may be eligible for status if the Bill passes.
2. Voluntary Deregistration
Currently, there is no process for individuals to have their name removed from the Indian Register upon their request. Individuals may wish to have their name removed from the register (give up their status) for a myriad of reasons, including that they never consented to have their named entered in the first place, they identify as Métis, or so they might register with an American Tribe.[4]
An amendment to section 5 of the Indian Act will allow individuals to apply to the Registrar to have their name removed from the Indian Register. Upon application the Registrar will remove the individuals name from the registry and from the band list that is maintained by Indigenous Services Canada (“ISC”). This means individual with status will be able to voluntarily give it up and have their name removed from the band list if that band list is maintained by ISC. Where an individual belongs to a band that manages its own band list, that individual may need to apply to the band directly to have their name removed from the band list.
3. Natal Band Reaffiliation
Prior to 1985, when a woman married a man who was a member of a different band, she automatically (and involuntarily) became a member of her husband’s band. The loss of a woman’s natal band membership had wide reaching impacts, including forced disconnection from her community and the loss of the right to live on her community’s reserve land.
Bill S-3 introduces a new provision to s. 11 of the Indian Act that addresses this historic injustice. The amendments will permit women who automatically became a member of her husband’s band to rejoin their natal band list, but only if that list is maintained by ISC. The amendments will also extend this right to direct descendants of these women.
Critically, the proposed amendments only apply to band lists that are managed by ISC. The amendments will not require Section 10 bands who manage their own membership lists to add the names of women previously removed due to marriage or their descendants.
4. Updating Outdated Language
The Indian Act dates back to 1867 and the current version contains outdated and offensive language that the proposed amendments seek to address. Bill S-3 will remove the term “mentally incompetent Indian” and replace it with “dependant person” and update the language used in the definition to describe a “dependant person.” This change will not alter the meaning of the definition but will modernize the language and bring it in line with the language of similar laws.
[1] Bill S-2, An Act to Amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements, 1st Sess, 45thParl, 2025, online: < https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/bill/S-2/first-reading>.
[2] Government of Canada, “The Honourable Mandy Gull-Masty applauds the introduction of a new bill to address remaining inequities and band membership provisions of the Indian Act”, 29 May 2025, online: < https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-services-canada/news/2025/05/the-honourable-mandy-gull-masty-applauds-the-introduction-of-a-new-bill-to-address-remaining-inequities-and-band-membership-provisions-of-the-india.html>.
[3] Candace Maracle, “Bill S-2 tries again to fix Indian Act as nations call for sovereignty over membership” CBC News, 16 June 2025, online: <https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/bill-s2-registration-membership-1.7560910>.
[4] Indigenous Services Canada, “Bill C-38: An Act to Amend the Indian Act (new registration entitlements) Information Kit, 2023, online: < https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2023/sac-isc/R122-46-2023-eng.pdf) pg 3 [Bill C-38 information Kit].