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About Us

The Urban Indigenous Education Centre at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) offers a variety of services with the goal of enhancing First Nations, Métis and Inuit students’ well-being and achievement, and creating opportunities for Indigenous Education for all staff and students in the TDSB. This mandate is guided by the Elders Council, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action.

Who We Are:

The System Superintendent of Indigenous Education, Centrally Assigned Administrators of Indigenous Education, and staff who make up various teams within the Urban Indigenous Education Centre support staff across to the TDBS to put the UIEC mandate into practice. These teams include:

 

A Timeline for the Urban Indigenous Education Centre

  •  1996Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP). Established by Canadian royal commission - Order in Council on August 26, 1991 - submitted in October 1996
  •  2007Ministry of Education First Nations, Métis and Inuit Policy Framework created and released
  •  2008The Urban Aboriginal Pilot Project (UAEPP) begins - 3 Urban Boards: Simcoe, Lakehead, Toronto
  •  2008The Aboriginal Education Centre is formed
  •  2010Decolonizing Our Schools: Aboriginal Education in the TDSB, Dr. Susan Dion Report on Urban Aboriginal Education Pilot Project (UAEPP) in the TDSB Document, evaluate and provide analysis of the UAEPP in service of understanding how to accomplish an education worthy of our children and our ancestors in a large, diverse urban context.
  •  2013Expressions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Cultures course offered (NAC10)
  •  2014Elders Council is formed
  •  2018Focus on the Seven Canopies established (student voice, professional learning, curriculum development, community engagement, partnerships, research, and innovation, governance and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission)
  •  2018The Aboriginal Education Centre is renamed: The Urban Indigenous Education Centre is launched
  •  2019Aanse: Indigenous Student Well-Being and Learning Strategy begins as a continuation of the five-year provincial inquiry on Indigenous education
  •  2022Board Motion and resolution to embed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action (TRC) and the United Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in all policies, procedures and governance structures
  •  2022Biidaaban - Truth and Reconciliation Project begins
  •  2023A Board Motion to implement Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Voices course (NBE3), which rolls out across the system in all secondary schools as a mandated grade 11 English course in summer
  •  2023-24TRC and UNDRIP embedded as guiding and foundational principles and a pillar of the Multi-Year Strategic Plan
  •  2024-25Roll-out of the Indigenous Summer Leadership Program