​​Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations | VANCOUVER – The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is standing down its cyber incident support call centre on December 20, 2024 due to recent extremely low call volumes but will continue to offer email support and one-time funding for communities to support members registering for free Equifax credit and identity theft monitoring.​

“Our teams have and will continue to prioritize security measures that keep pace with both known and new cybersecurity threats as they emerge," said Richard Jock, CEO of the FNHA. “While the call centre has served its intended purpose, and is now being stood down, FNHA's support of community members impacted by the cyber incident will continue through email support and community grants."

In addition to providing credit monitoring and identity theft restoration services, the FNHA established a dedicated Cyber Incident Support Centre for people with questions not answered in the FNHA's frequently asked questions page.

The support centre can be contacted by telephone at 1-844-723-6518 until Friday, December 20, 2024. The operating hours of the support centre are 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Pacific time, Monday to Friday. The support centre email will remain active after December 20, 2024 and can be contacted at cyberincident@fnha.ca.

To support Elders and community members, aged 18-years or older, who may need assistance to create email accounts and/or complete the registration process for Equifax, the FNHA is offering grants to First Nation communities that would like to hire students, or other temporary workers, to support community members or host virtual support sessions. Grants are available until Tuesday, December 31, 2024. Information on how to request a grant can be found here.

“Information security continues to be a top priority for the FNHA," said Jock. “We encourage all impacted indivduals to register with Equifax for credit and identity theft monitoring."

Quick Facts:

• The deadline to obtain an activation code from Equifax via the online look up tool is January 31, 2025 and the deadline to enroll with Equifax for the free 24-months Equifax service is February 28, 2025.
• If you require an activation code after January 31, 2025, in order to enroll with Equifax before February 28, 2025, please email cyberincident@fnha.ca to confirm eligibility.
• Emails can be sent to the support centre at any time; a representative will respond within 48 hours of reading it during the support centre's operating hours.
• The one-time grant amounts for communities are:
• ​$3,000 - total population up to 500 members.
  
• ​$5,000 - total population of 501 members or more.
  

To learn more about mental health support services available to you, visit: https://www.fnha.ca/about/data-and-privacy/cybersecurity-incident/supports

A backgrounder follows.

First Nations Health Authority

Media Relations
604 329-9544
media@fnha.ca