Ongoing efforts to make health-care systems culturally safe and accessible for all First Nations Peoples, Inuit and Métis peoples in B.C. and across Canada are being strengthened with the creation of a ground-breaking repository of resources at the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH), which is based at UNBC.

New public funding will support the NCCIH to grow the first-ever collection of cultural safety and Indigenous-specific anti-racism tools and resources.

Indigenous Services Canada is providing $520,000 over five years to support this initiative nationally and the Government of British Columbia is contributing $550,000 to enable B.C. health system partners to create tools, strategies and resources to enhance culturally safe service delivery and practices across the health system.

“This collection of critical information will help to guide and inform the best efforts of all health care workers to address and stop stigma and discrimination against Indigenous peoples in health systems,” said Margo Greenwood, Academic Leader, NCCIH.

The public online library includes videos, communication resources, research papers, training materials and educational platforms.

“The NCCIH plays a key role in ongoing work to enhance cultural safety in health regions across Canada,“ said UNBC Interim President Dr. Geoff Payne. “Congratulations to the NCCIH team on this important new resource that they will be administering and further developing to assist continuing efforts focused on health equity for Indigenous Peoples, families and communities.”

Established in 2005 with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada and hosted at UNBC, the NCCIH is one of six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health which together promote and support evidence-informed decision-making in public health programs, policies and practice in Canada. The mandate of the NCCIH is to strengthen public health systems and support health equity for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.