User:Prim2357/APC

Aboriginal people of Canada is a singular noun phrase describing an indigenous collective entity that has constitutional significance. This phrase refers to a contemporary indigenous community in Canada that has an ancestral connection to a historic indigenous community. It differs fundamentally from usages of the word "people" as a plural noun, meaning "persons".

The aboriginal peoples of Canada include "the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada". They have a special significance in Canadian constitutional and international human-rights law and practice arising from their existence as self-governing entities before the Crown asserted sovereignty in what is now Canada. Their existing aboriginal and treaty rights are recognized and affirmed by the Constitution Act, 1982 (Can.). Canadian governments must justify legislative or administrative infringement of these rights. The courts have established standards for justification and will strike down Crown actions that breach these standards even where the breach is small.

In 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada interpreted the word "peoples" in the Constitution Act as referring to distinct historical communities that continue today, noting that there are numerous Métis peoples and by implication also numerous Indian peoples and Inuit peoples. In the case of Indian peoples, "peoples" generally does not mean "Bands".