Fine print & sources
Funding. Per-band “Grand Total” from the House of Commons response to written question Q-858 (Sessional Paper 8555-451-858, tabled April 13, 2026), table (b) — the sum of fiscal years 2021–22 through 2025–26, the final year covering April 1 to December 31, 2025. The money supports construction, upgrades, operations and maintenance of on-reserve water infrastructure under Indigenous Services Canada’s First Nations Water & Wastewater Enhanced Program, toward the $6 billion commitment in section 9.02 of the 2021 Safe Drinking Water Settlement Agreement (Q-858, part (a)).
Totals. The 544 bands here received $4,586,857,093 in direct payments (Q-858, p.31 “Total”). A further $581,124,408 went to Tribal Councils, First Nation organizations, Municipal-Type Service Agreement providers, and advocacy/research (same page), bringing the program total to $5,167,981,501 — the ~$5.17 billion in part (a). The “Funding to bands” figure above is the $4.59B direct-to-band amount and excludes the organization-level spending.
Reserve population. On-reserve registered count as stated by the Government of Canada in its First Nation Profiles registry (e.g., band 121, Six Nations of the Grand River = 0 on own reserve, as of May 2026), compiled via the independent cdn-fn-wealth dataset which draws on that registry. Single-year snapshots whose year varies by band; some are 0 or single digits. This is a registered count by residency, not necessarily the number of people physically resident on a reserve.
“?” bands. 22 of the 544 bands could not be matched to a Government of Canada population figure (band names differ between the two sources). Their population shows ? and their per-capita is left blank. As requested, they are grouped immediately after the highest-population band — not pooled with the population-0 group — so an unknown denominator is treated as a large population rather than a near-zero one. The unmatched bands are: Chiniki First Nation; Miawpukek Band; Kashechewan Band; Liard First Nation; Chemawawin Cree Nation; Naskapi Nation Of Kawawachikamach; Ochapowace Band; First Nation Of Nacho Nyak Dun; Albany Band; Tsq'Escen' First Nation; Bearspaw Band; Toquaht Nation; Carcross/Tagish First Nation; Kluane First Nation; Champagne & Aishihik First Nations; Selkirk First Nation; Tthebatthie Denesuliné Nation; Goodstoney Band; Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation; Tsawwassen First Nation; Westbank First Nation Band; Ucluelet First Nation.
Per capita. Total funding ÷ reserve population. Population 0 → undefined, shown “—”, sorted to the bottom. Population under 100 (shaded) → figure highly sensitive to the denominator; values in the hundreds of thousands or millions per person reflect a small denominator, not actual per-person spending. *Median is over bands with population ≥ 1.
Other limits. Funding spans five years; population is a single registry snapshot — the two are not time-aligned. Matching used aliases plus fuzzy matching and may contain errors; the band name shown is the one from Q-858. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Canada, any First Nation, or any official body; not suitable for legal, financial, or official decision-making.