Highlights A new report, “Reflecting Indigenous Peoples’ Histories and Cultures in BC Parks and Protected Areas: Progress Report and Recommendations” has been drafted. To develop the report, the former Parliamentary Secretary of Environment held meetings with five First Nations partners. Feedback was solicited on BC Parks’ efforts to incorporate First Nations’ histories and cultures into…

Highlights First Nations, including the Alliance of BC Modern Treaty Nations, were invited to engagement sessions held in the spring of 2023, hosted in partnership with the First Nations Leadership Council. The engagements aimed to identify shared priorities and inform the development of principles to guide the advancement of collaborative cannabis governance and jurisdiction. The…

Highlights The Indigenous Youth Internship Program (IYIP) is entering its 18th year. IYIP is a valued employment program with far reaching impact within the BC Public Service and broader Indigenous organizations and First Nations communities in B.C. A vendor has been identified through BC Bid to conduct the evaluation of IYIP and is being supported…

Highlights In 2023/24, the Indigenous skills training and education program provided $27 million in funding to First Nations and designated partner organizations, Métis Nation BC and BC Aboriginal Friendship Centres.  The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills (PSFS) provided $20 million in funding to First Nations and designated partner organizations. This funding supported community-led…

Highlights The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation (JEDI) continues to collaborate with First Nation partners in the development and implementation of the 10 JEDI-led flagship initiatives from the StrongerBC Economic Plan that was released in 2022. This collaboration occurs on an initiative-by-initiative basis in recognition that the StrongerBC Economic Plan involves a diverse…

Highlights How are we working together? The Province and the Trusts are planning an inclusive, broad-based engagement with First Nations in each service region throughout 2024/25 with the understanding that this will strengthen relationships between the Trusts and First Nations, raise awareness about the role of the Trusts, and allow for an open dialogue with…

Highlights In early 2022, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport (TACS) provided Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC) with $3.7 million to support the implementation of ITBC’s alignment strategy (2021 – 2024) to support the recovery of Indigenous tourism to pre-pandemic levels.  To achieve recovery, ITBC created the capacity building and resiliency program as a…

Highlights As of January 2024, 80% of homes on First Nation reserves and Modern Treaty Nation lands have access to high-speed internet services. When all current projects are complete, that figure will rise to 91.7%. As more projects are received and assessed through the Connecting Communities BC program, this figure will increase until all homes…

Highlights In alignment with a distinctions-based approach, the Ministry of Education and Child Care (ECC) has provided direction to B.C. superintendents that the language, culture, heritage, history, and land-based connections of the First Nation(s) whose territory a school district is located are honoured, acknowledged, and taught. Historically, boards of education have decided which languages will…

Highlights In alignment with a distinctions-based approach, the Ministry of Education and Child Care (ECC) continues to support partnerships between school districts and First Nations communities in developing curriculum documents for First Nations languages. There are currently 20 ministry-recognized First Nation language curriculum documents, to support the teaching and learning of 20 First Nations languages. …