Anniversary Of Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training For The Architecture Community

For Immediate Release

June 1, 2022

OTTAWA, June 1, 2022 – In honour of National Indigenous History Month, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is proud to announce an extension of our collaboration with NVision Insight Group to offer an online Indigenous cultural awareness training program for the Architecture community.

The RAIC is committed to engaging in sustainable actions to foster reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Our renewed strategic plan is anchored in reconciliation and building and strengthening our relationship with Indigenous peoples. Offering an ongoing cultural competency training program supports our vision to answering Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action to provide education on “the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal– Crown relations.” This course is for anyone who works with Indigenous communities or organizations, anyone who employs an Indigenous workforce, anyone committed to social, cultural, or economic development and anyone committed to a stronger Canada, a more compassionate Canada, and a Canada of empowered Indigenous communities. 

Since launching the course in 2021, hundreds of architecture professionals and firms have made the commitment to enhance their Indigenous cultural awareness and joined us on The Path. We are also proud to announce that starting June 1, 2022, the RAIC will contribute a portion of each course registration to the Indian Residential School Survivor Society, an organization that provides essential services to Residential School Survivors, their families, and those dealing with Intergenerational traumas.

The Path: Your Journey Through Indigenous Canada is a series of five online modules created by a majority Indigenous-owned company and has been developed with First Nations, Inuit and Métis advisors and reviewers. Additionally, the modules were vetted by an Indigenous lawyer for accuracy related to legal references within the modules. This course will introduce you to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis ─ the three Indigenous peoples recognized in the Canadian constitution. Topics include the cultural and historical differences between First Nations, Inuit, and Métis; the evolution of the relationship between Canada and Indigenous people from pre-contact to yesterday’s headlines; stories of social and economic success, reconciliation, and resilience; understanding intercultural communication in the workplace, and ways to strengthen relationships with Indigenous peoples. 

The online course is completely video-based, available in English or French, and is the only course of its kind to focus in equal depth on all three Indigenous peoples: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The course is on-demand and takes approximately 4 to 5 hours to complete with a certificate provided upon successful completion. 

“It is our responsibility to build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on a recognition of rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership. Learning more about Indigenous cultures, histories and languages is crucial to developing a common understanding and opening the door to respectful relationships” states John Brown, FRAIC, President of the RAIC. “We have an ambitious goal for all members of the RAIC to complete this training. This program is one small step that we can all take together in creating a more culturally safe sector moving forward.” 

As a national organization, with headquarters in Ottawa, the RAIC honours the peoples and land of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation and all First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and their valuable past, present and future contributions to this land. The RAIC acknowledges the historical oppression of lands, cultures, and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada, as well as the role architects and architecture played in that oppression. The RAIC respects and affirms the inherent and Treaty rights of all Indigenous peoples across this land as well as those outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. 

The RAIC is committed to listening and learning along this journey together. 

RAIC members can access the full course for $100 + HST. The course is also available to others for $145 + HST. Visit our website for more information and to register for The Path.