The Grand Entry of the Annual First Nations University of Canada Spring Celebration Powwow in Regina, April 20. The university will receive $10-million over the next decade.Liam Richards/The Globe and Mail
Third-year Indigenous social-work student Audra Cochrane says that attending First Nations University in Regina has changed her life.
Ms. Cochrane, who is from George Gordon First Nation, a community of about 3,300 people an hour north of the city, said she chose the school because the learning environment is rooted in Indigenous knowledge and culture. For example, she noted that there are services that connect students with elders.
She is now a student ambassador, helping new students find their way, and is a part of the student association.
“I could have never imagined this for myself,” said Ms. Cochrane, 43, adding that studying social work has allowed her to learn about and heal from her past traumas.
Her own young-adult children are watching her, she said, and they are learning the importance of education and reconnecting with your culture.
First Nations University is one of 30 Indigenous institutions and organizations that are the beneficiaries of a $235-million donation announced Tuesday from the Mastercard Foundation. Independent from the company, it is a registered charity focused on advancing education and financial inclusion in Africa and for Indigenous people in Canada.
The university’s president Jackie Ottmann said the next step will be developing plans to allocate the funding.
Indigenous students often face barriers to accessing postsecondary education. For example, Statistics Canada has said that First Nations youth are more likely to be young parents, live in low-income households and rural areas.
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About 49 per cent of Indigenous adults had completed a postsecondary qualification in 2021, according to Statscan’s latest census data. The highest level most often completed was a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma.
In the past five years, however, the share of Indigenous people achieving a bachelor’s degree or higher has increased 1.6 percentage points for First Nations, 2.5 percentage points for Métis, and 0.9 percentage points for Inuit.
Overall, the employment rate of Indigenous adults in 2021 was just over 61 per cent, according to Statistics Canada, compared with 74 per cent for non-Indigenous adults. But that difference virtually disappeared when only considering people with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Reeta Roy, the president and chief executive of the foundation, said the donation is being made now to mark the 10th anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. Several of its calls to action are about addressing the educational and employment gaps that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
“The funding is really to enable these institutions to continue this work,” Ms. Roy said. “Either scale the specific program which attracted our attention, or create new programming that’s also innovative.”
Ten Indigenous institutes, including the First Nations University and First Nations Technical Institute in Ontario, will each receive $10-million over the next decade.
Another 16 colleges and universities, including the University of Manitoba and the Nunavut Arctic College, will each receive $5-million to scale and sustain Indigenous partnerships and programs.
Angie Bruce, a vice-president at the University of Manitoba, said that the funding will in part be used to strengthen cultural identity supports for Indigenous students − the number of which has increased by 10 per cent in the past year.
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The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, at the University of Manitoba, will also receive $25-million.
Three Indigenous organizations, including Indspire, will also each receive $10-million. Indspire is a national charity that provides scholarships, conducts research and holds an award show.
President and CEO Michael DeGagné said there have been many landmark agreements with Indigenous communities in recent years, suggesting communities will need highly educated people to run and support the initiatives that come from them.
“It’s never been more important than now for us to get as many young people into the college and university sector and come out with really valuable skills that we can give back to the community,” he said.
Sheila Cote-Meek, a professor and director of Indigenous educational studies at Brock University, said that while there has been improvement, barriers still exist for Indigenous people in postsecondary environments. Brock did not receive any of the funding from the foundation.
She said that students have to deal with “mostly covert types of racism” that operate in the classroom, such as if a difficult topic is brought up in an insensitive way. Financial issues are another difficulty, she said.
She added that depending where students arrive from, there also may be barriers around their high-school education, and they may need help adjusting to a more urban community.
Indigenous student services provided by many postsecondary institutions are critical for these students, she said.