Our Story

The Indigenous Student Alliance of Ontario (ISAO) is currently a working group of Indigenous learners who have met through their individual studies at Trent University. Through the collective of shared ideas; experiences; and the groundwork laid by previous generations of Indigenous learners & leaders, the ISAO team have identified and raised the need for a provincially coordinated body of Indigenous learners.

The team has identified the need for dedicated capacity and resources to support on campus Indigenous Student Associations (ISA) as they strive to assist their peers and community in the success of Ontario’s post-secondary Indigenous learner population. We strive to:

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Collective
Voice

Provide a collective voice to educational stakeholders.

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Indigenous learner

Collaborate on program and service development to enhance and support the Indigenous learner experiences.

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Opportunities

Create opportunities for Indigenous learner leaders to connect, learn and grow together.

The Challenge

Indigenous peoples in Canada face multiple and systemic barriers to attaining and succeeding in post- secondary education. A long history of discrimination, including the legacy of residential schools, and government underfunding of Indigenous education has contributed to a widening gap in post-secondary attainment. Indigenous learners through lived experience, remain instrumental in both identifying and addressing the most current key needs of Indigenous learners in the participation, retention and attainment rates of post-secondary institutions.

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The Opportunity

The ISAO team would like to bridge the gap of directly involving the Indigenous learners of all capacities in the advancement of leadership and decision-making initiatives that affect not only themselves, but also their peers to achieve greater retention and graduation rates of post-secondary education. The environmental scanning snapshot below further identifies the gap of having meaningful Indigenous learner engagement and representation.

Environmental Scanning Snapshot: Representative & Support Organizations

Local (Ontario)

Provincial (Ontario)

National

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Students (Indigenous)

Indigenous Student Associations

(Grassroots and not incorporated. Volunteer run.)

n/a

n/a

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Students (All)

Student Union/Association at respective campus

(Often incorporated and have staff, capacity and resources.)

Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario (Circle of FNMI Students: It is a caucus only)

Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

College Student Alliance

Canadian Federation of Students (Circle of FNMI Students: It is a caucus only)

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

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University

21

Universities
(Administration)

Council of Ontario Universities

Universities Canada

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College

24

Colleges
(Administration)

Colleges Ontario

Colleges and Institutes Canada

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Indigenous Institute

09

Indigenous Institutes
(Administration)

Indigenous Institutes
Consortium

n/a

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Political Territorial Organizations

Association of Iroquois & Allied Indians

Nishnabwe-Aski Nation

Etc.

Chiefs of Ontario

Métis Nation of Ontario

Assembly of First Nations

Métis National Council

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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Faculty

Faculty Associations at respective campus

Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations

Canadian Association of University Teachers

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Friendship
Centres

28-
30

Centres located in Ontario

Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

National Association of Friendship Centres

we hope to fill this gap through:

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Research & Advocacy

Collectively identifying and addressing the challenges faced by Indigenous learners.

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Skills

Collaborating on programming and service development to enhance and support Indigenous learners’ university experience.

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Community

Effectively engaging with Indigenous university learners in Ontario to promote unity and community.

Our engagement approach

The ISAO has chosen to adopt a regional engagement approach. This approach allows us to achieve our goal of effectively engaging with Indigenous learners by improving coordination, while also ensuring that voices are heard and can be meaningfully addressed. As the experiences of Indigenous learners in the north, may not always reflect the experiences of learners in the other regions and vise versa.

North Region
  • Lakehead University
  • Algoma University
  • Laurentian University
  • Nipissing University

Resources

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insperity%20letter.pdf

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Become a part of isao

Are you interested in learning more about how the ISAO can help you? Are you interested in getting involved with our initiatives?