Three new community-based teacher education programs are launching across B.C. with the goal of increasing the number of First Nations teachers in K-12 classrooms. The effort is led by Indigenous communities in partnership with post-secondary institutions.
The programs, funded through a $5.4-million investment by the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, are part of the province’s StrongerBC: Future Ready action plan and aim to address what officials call a significant shortage of First Nations teachers.
The Stz’uminus Education Society, in partnership with the University of Victoria, has already launched a Hul’q’umi’num’-focused teacher education stream. The program begins with a language revitalization certificate, then leads into a diploma and eventually a bachelor of education in Indigenous language revitalization. Seventeen learners from the Stz’uminus First Nation have joined the inaugural cohort.
“I am an Indigenous Stz'uminus woman who completed a BEd. Becoming a teacher was a dream I never thought would happen,” said Gina-Mae Harris, Hul’q’umi’num lead for Stz'uminus. “If given the opportunity to complete my BEd in my own community and in my own language, Hul'q'umi'num', I would have done it at a younger age!”
The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills said the initiative supports Item 4.02 of B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, which calls for a recruitment and retention strategy for Indigenous teachers in public schools.
According to the 2021 Canadian census, Indigenous people make up 5.9 per cent of B.C.’s population and represent approximately five per cent of the province’s teachers. However, Indigenous students account for 12 per cent of the K-12 public school population.
“This funding will support First Nations in bringing teacher-education programs into their communities to meet the unique needs of their learners and reduce the barriers that many First Nations students experience when attending a post-secondary institution,” said sumaxatkʷ, Tracey Kim Bonneau, chair of the Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association.
The program in Stz’uminus is one of three educational tracks launching between fall 2025 and early 2026. Bonaparte First Nation, in collaboration with Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and the University of British Columbia, will offer a third-year entry program. Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, also working with UVic, has launched a Nuu-chah-nulth language revitalization certificate leading to a bachelor of education.
“This program is more than a degree, it is an investment in the future of our language, culture and children,” said Azar Kamran, chief administrative officer of Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation. “By supporting our members to become teachers, we are building the capacity to teach from a place of cultural strength, ensuring that future generations of Mowachaht-Muchalaht students will learn in a way that reflects who they are and where they come from.”
Each of the three First Nations has received $1 million to support program delivery. The programs are expected to collectively enrol 50 to 60 students, with graduates as early as 2028. An additional six First Nations and First Nations-led organizations each received $50,000 to begin developing similar programs in partnership with post-secondary institutions.
“First Nations learners deserve to see First Nations teachers in their classrooms,” said Tyrone McNeil, president of the First Nations Education Steering Committee. “We look forward to working with the province to ensure ongoing support for First Nation community-based teacher-education programs.”
As Harris noted, the programs may be life-changing not just for students, but for communities.
“Our language deserves to be shared to strengthen our lives. We cannot have our true culture without our language.”
