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Indigenous Institutes in Ontario are in a phase of growth, that includes expanding programs and granting their own degrees, diplomas, and other postsecondary credentials. With the passing of the Indigenous Institutes Act, 2017, institutes moved towards greater self-governance and are continuing to create postsecondary education programs that uphold Indigenous knowledge and support the needs of Indigenous students. With these shifts, the ability to design programs with transferability in mind is presenting a unique and exciting opportunity-one that can build more equity and transparency for students into the postsecondary education system.

ONCAT has been working with Indigenous Institutes to understand how transfer strategies can achieve important outcomes for Indigenous learners, communities and the postsecondary system. Examples include:

• Developing Indigenous learner-centred approaches to postsecondary access and reducing admissions barriers through pathways (see the Good rED Road Program developed by First Nations Technical Institute, Kenjegewin Teg and Seven Generations Education Institute)
• Research into the credential recognition challenges experienced by Indigenous Institute students when trying to transfer or attend other postsecondary institutions (see Six Nation Polytechnic project: Indigenous Institute credential recognition | ONCAT)
• Utilizing cross institutional collaboration, pathways and credential laddering to support students to achieve fluency in Indigenous Languages (see Six Nation Polytechnic project: Developing Pathways for Indigenous Language Revitalization in Ogwehoweh languages | ONCAT).
• Creating responsive and responsible pathways for Indigenous learners through college, university and Indigenous Institute collaboration (see Mobilizing knowledge to create responsible pathways for Indigenous learners across Ontario's post secondary sector | ONCAT)

There are many projects and approaches being used by college, universities and Indigenous Institutes to strengthen pathways and student supports for Indigenous learners.  We invite you to check our Projects Search | ONCAT where you can access snapshots and reports, to learn more (see:

Ps. Did you know, we updated our website with recently completed projects? Check out the latest research, transfer pathways and seamless transfer strategies coming out of Ontario’s postsecondary system (see: Search | ONCAT)