Peguis Child and Family Services has released its 2025-2026 Annual General Report, showing a steep drop in the number of children taken into care. The report covers the year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, and highlights how the agency’s focus on keeping families together is making a difference in Peguis, Manitoba.
The agency says it reduced its apprehension rate by 71 percent over the reporting period. The report credits this to a major investment of roughly $24 million in prevention programs that work directly with families to avoid removing children from their homes.
Executive Director Clemene Hornbrook and Board Chair Louise McCorrister laid out the results. A total of 32,563 members took part in prevention services. And every single child in care who lives in Peguis First Nation is now being looked after by immediate or extended family.
The push to keep kids with kin is backed by 80 Customary Care Agreements. Those agreements kept 45 children from entering care altogether. The agency also notes that 80.5 percent of intake calls were from people asking for help on their own, suggesting growing trust in the service.
The financial side of the report shows the agency brought in $105.7 million in revenue against $69.2 million in expenses. That left an excess of $36.5 million, largely tied to ongoing construction at the Maamawibiway property.
Peguis Child and Family Services operates under its own community-driven law, the Honouring our Children, Families and Nation Act, which took effect on January 21, 2022. It was the first First Nation in Manitoba to take that step. A formal coordination deal signed in January 2023 transferred authority from the province to Peguis First Nation under federal legislation.
The full financial statements are also available for the public to review.
