Urban Aboriginal People

Highlights on Progress

An increasing number of Aboriginal people are living, studying, and working in urban areas. The majority of Aboriginal people in B.C. - seventy-four percent - do not live on reserves. Of these, 60 percent live in urban areas, particularly in the communities of Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George and Kamloops.

The Urban Aboriginal Strategy, signed in 1999, is a community-based initiative developed by the Government of Canada to improve social and economic opportunities of Aboriginal people living in urban centres.

Through the Urban Aboriginal Strategy, the Province works with Aboriginal organizations and the federal government to support coordinated and collaborative approaches to addressing the distinct needs of urban Aboriginal people, including First Nations, Métis and non-status First Nations.

Recent successes:

Supporting B.C.’s 23 Aboriginal Friendship Centres to improve the quality of life of urban Aboriginal people and to close the gaps between Aboriginal people and other British Columbians.
The First Citizens Fund Business Loan Program supported approximately $3 million of loans to Aboriginal businesses, 56% of these loans went to Aboriginal businesses in urban and off-reserve settings.
Negotiated the terms for reciprocal tuition payments to cover K-12 students living off-reserve enrolled in band-operated schools with the First Nations Education Steering Committee.
Supported school districts and Aboriginal communities as they created, signed and implemented additional Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreements around the province, for a total of 50 out of 60 school districts.
Encouraging Aboriginal students to start, stay in and succeed in post-secondary education, through programs including new courses and curriculum, events, student services and culturally welcoming Gathering Places on public institution campuses.
Provided housing and supports to more than 480 homeless Aboriginal people through the Aboriginal Homeless Outreach Program.
Opened Kickwillie Place, a new family development centre providing 40 units of affordable family housing and on-site child-care services, through a partnership with the City of Vernon.
Opened the new Seniors’ Lytton Health Centre to improve acute care and community health services to better meet the needs of First Nations and other residents in the Lytton area.
More than 239 Aboriginal people received trades training as part of a Canada/BC Labour Market Agreement.
Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts led Canada in the development of the Aboriginal cultural tourism sector and increasing tourism revenues for the Aboriginal tourism sector to approximately $38 million in 2009, up from approximately $20 million in 2005.

More highlights - First Nations

Success Stories

Aboriginal Education in Mission Public Schools

As the District Principal for Aboriginal Education with Mission Public Schools, Colleen Hannah has seen a dramatic change in attitudes across the district in recent years. “There’s been a shift in conversation,” says Hannah. “Instead of me asking teachers if they have an Aboriginal component in their curriculum, now they’re coming to our department and looking for Aboriginal culture and traditions that they can build in.”

The change seems to have come hand-in-hand with the New Relationship. “We’re no longer knocking on doors, trying to go to meetings, and fighting to become part of the conversation,” says Hannah. “Now, we are the conversation. Government has made Aboriginal education a priority, so it’s becoming a priority for everybody. You hear it everywhere. Rather than asking to be at the table to be part of the conversation, we’re at the table to be part of the work.”

And the changes aren’t stopping there. “It’s now expected that there is an Aboriginal component in our achievement contracts and our school growth plans. It’s now expected that we look at the data and make changes for the better for Aboriginal students, and this makes it better for all students. I’ve noticed that difference. The government isn’t asking ‘Is there an Aboriginal goal?’ It’s demanding ‘What is your Aboriginal goal?’ Now, Aboriginal education is an integral part of our districts, not an add-on piece.”

Hannah sees the focus on Aboriginal education as a clear benefit for all British Columbians. “We are the fastest growing population in Canada. Across the district, our numbers are increasing while the number of non-Aboriginal students is declining. If we collectively don’t address Aboriginal achievement, we’re going to be in big trouble.”

“We are all Aboriginal educators,” she adds sagely. “Some of us have Aboriginal ancestry, but we are all responsible for all our children. It doesn’t matter who we are, we want all of our children to do better.”

Success by Six

Success by Six is a Province-wide program designed to assist Aboriginal and First Nations communities help children get a good start. For children up to age six, the program strengthens the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical skills they need as they enter school. Participants like Jessie Nyberg, a coordinator with Aboriginal Infant/Early Childhood Development Program at the First Nations Friendship Center in Vernon, knows just how critical programs like this are.

“I believe that speaking the traditional language is as important as speaking English,” says Nyberg. “We talked to parents of children of Aboriginal ancestry in the North Okanagan, and they identified language as an issue.” Soon after, the Aboriginal Children’s Book Project in the North Okanagan was born.

In the spirit of the New Relationship, the project brought several people and groups together. “We formed an Aboriginal Table with Success by Six, the Okanagan Friendship Centre, the Okanagan Indian Band and the Spallumcheen Indian Band,” recalls Nyberg. “We hired an artist and a writer to write books for children aged to six, in the Okanagan and Shuswap languages.”

For many children in the program, the resulting book will be their only exposure to these traditional languages. “The benefits for the little children from newborn to three and four years is that they will hear their language and become familiar with it,” says Nyberg. “For the older ones, they will actually learn to speak their language.”

Creating a Sense of Community at Friendship Lodge

Six months after it welcomed its first tenants in June 2009, Friendship Lodge celebrated its first Christmas. The 30-unit development, which provides homes and supports for Prince George adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, had a surprise guest that day. Santa knocked on tenants’ doors with small gifts for everyone. “People were so touched; several were crying,” recalled Jennifer Harrington, Prince George Native Friendship Centre Society’s Director of Supportive Housing. “For some, it was the first time they had felt a part of something and like they belonged somewhere.”

Prince George Native Friendship Centre Society, which manages Friendship Lodge, recognizes that stable housing is extremely important to its tenants, but that the “magic” happens when these people are also provided with the support services they need to regain a sense of control. “Some of our tenants have been in and out of homelessness all their lives and they’re looking for more than a home; they need a sense of community,” added Harrington. “Since coming here, some have reconnected with family members who they hadn’t been in touch with for years. Others have stabilized their addictions by seeking help from counsellors. Those with mental illnesses are now coping better with their medications. Two tenants have already moved on and are doing really well living independently.”

Life skills workers are on site 24 hours a day. Programs at the Friendship Centre, a short walk away, are also available to tenants. A community kitchen program has started at Friendship Lodge, which teaches participants how to buy and store food and how to plan menus and prepare nutritious meals.

The society also understands how important it is for Friendship Lodge to be accepted into its neighbourhood. “We were very involved in the zoning process… delivering flyers, talking with neighbours, and holding monthly meetings to alleviate fears of what having a development like this in their community would mean to them.”

That proactive position has paid off. “One of our neighbours came by over the holidays to say that they’d originally been opposed to Friendship Lodge being here, but now they think it’s great,” said Harrington.