The federal government announced Thursday an investment of $1.1 billion over five years to help Indigenous students in Quebec stay in school.
Indigenous Services Canada is therefore tripling the aid that was initially provided for in the Freeland budget earlier this year, to $310.6 million.
The envelope will be used in particular to recruit and retain more than 600 teachers and members of specialized educational staff through a network of 24 elementary and secondary schools in 22 Aboriginal communities.
Minister Patty Hajdu made the announcement in Kahnawake along with several Aboriginal leaders, including Ghislain Picard, Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, and Kahsennénhawe Sky-Deer, Grand Chief of Kahnawake.
In a press release, Mr. Picard celebrated the culmination of 35 years of work by the First Nations Education Council (FNEC).
“The climate of reconciliation in which the negotiation of the agreement took place was based on the funding formula developed by the FNEC. This agreement reflects the potential for economic and cultural sustainability that our future graduates will bring to their community,” he said.
The school curriculum has been shaped so that education is culturally appropriate to the realities of Indigenous communities, with the goal of improving student success and increasing high school graduation rates.