Federal Government add additional $204M for COVID-19 prevention measures in Indigenous communities, institutions

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The Federal Government announced an additional $204 million dollars in funding aimed at child care, education and infrastructure to help Indigenous communities fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Child care
The Prime Minister said that $120 million will be allotted to support early learning and child-care facilities in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities during the pandemic

The new funding will support facilities in Indigenous communities with hiring additional staff and offering training for their teams. 

Education
The government also said they will be spending $25 million to help Indigenous post-secondary institutions with increased costs related to the pandemic.

"This will help retain staff, adapt courses for online learning and implement public health and safety measures like additional handwashing stations and safe space barriers," Prime Minister Trudeau said.

Infrastructure
$59 million in funding to improve infrastructure on First Nations to meet COVID-19 health and safety standards. This new funding is on top of more than $2.2 billion the Federal Government has already allocated to help Indigenous and Northern communities get through the health crisis.