Bill C-31 and C-3 Status Restoration: How It Affects Post-Secondary Funding Eligibility
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Sep 21, 2026 • Updated Sep 21, 2026 • Canadian Universities & Colleges, Canadian Student Aid & Scholarships
Bill C-31 in 1985 and Bill C-3 in 2011 restored Indian Act status to people who had lost it or were denied it under past discriminatory rules, and that restored status is what opens the door to band-administered post-secondary funding today.
📩 Bill C-31 (1985) ended the rule that stripped status from Indigenous women who married non-status men, and let their children apply too
Bill C-3 (2011) extended registration to some grandchildren left out by the 1985 fix, after a court ruling found it still unequal
A further amendment in 2017, Bill S-3, closed more of the same gap
🎓 Newly registered status holders become potentially eligible for PSSSP funding through their band, though funding is never automatic
Why status history still matters for funding today
Federal post-secondary funding through the Post-Secondary Student Support Program is restricted to First Nations students registered under the Indian Act. Registration itself has changed several times since 1985, mostly to undo rules that had stripped status from people, especially women, on discriminatory grounds. If your family's status was affected by any of these rules, your own eligibility for funding may depend on facts from decades ago that you were never told about.
Bill C-31, 1985
Before 1985, the Indian Act stripped status from any Indigenous woman who married a man without status, while a non-status woman who married a status man gained it. Bill C-31 removed this rule, restored status to women who had lost it this way, and allowed their children to apply for status as well. It also introduced two registration categories, known as 6(1) and 6(2), which determine whether a parent can pass status on to their own children going forward.
This is the reason some families have members with status and members without it in the same generation. A grandparent's marriage decades ago can still decide whether a grandchild qualifies for status-based funding today.
Bill C-3, 2011
The 6(1) and 6(2) categories created in 1985 produced a new form of unequal treatment: grandchildren descended through a woman who regained status under Bill C-31 were treated differently than grandchildren descended through the male line. A Canadian court found this unequal in the case known as McIvor v. Canada. Bill C-3, the Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act, responded by extending registration to some of the grandchildren who had been left out.
Bill S-3, from 2017
A further court case, Descheneaux v. Canada, found the Indian Act still contained sex-based gaps after the 2011 fix. Bill S-3 responded in 2017, removing more of the remaining inequities, with a further provision extending registration back in time taking effect a couple of years later. Each round of amendments has widened who can register, so a relative who was told decades ago that the family did not qualify for status may be able to register now.
What this means for your funding application
If you are not currently registered but think one of these amendments may apply to your family, the first step is applying for Indian registration through Indigenous Services Canada, not applying for funding directly. Registration has to be confirmed before a band can consider you for PSSSP funding, since the program is restricted to students registered under the Indian Act.
Registration and band membership are not always the same thing. Some bands control their own membership lists separately from federal registration, so becoming registered does not automatically make you a member of a specific band, and funding is administered by bands. Ask the band your family is connected to how it handles funding applications for newly registered members before you assume the process works the same as for members who were always registered.
Processing an Indian registration application takes time, so start it as early as possible relative to your intended start date, ideally a full year ahead if your family's history involves one of these amendments.
Documents that speed up a late registration
Gather what you have before you start the application: your parents' or grandparents' birth and marriage records, any old band membership correspondence, and details of any relative's status number if you know it. Registration staff use this family history to trace your eligibility under whichever amendment applies, and missing documents are the most common reason an application stalls for months.
Talk to a relative who was already registered before 1985 if one is available. Their status number and band affiliation can shortcut the research Indigenous Services Canada would otherwise have to do from scratch, and older relatives sometimes hold paperwork that was never digitized.
Once you are registered
Newly registered status does not expire and does not need renewal, but it does not retroactively fund years you already completed without it. Apply for PSSSP as soon as your registration comes through, and mention to your band that you are a newly registered member, since some bands track new registrants separately when planning their yearly funding allocation.