Registration and Continental Breakfast

Traditional welcome

Stacey LaForme
Chief
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation

Opening Remarks from the Conference Co-Chairs

Audrey DeMarsico
Lawyer
Nelligan O‘Brien Payne LLP

Daphne Farrell, CRSP, CEMC, ABCP
Emergency Management Specialist
EM Canada

Chiefs Panel

Top Priorities to Meet Housing Needs and Strategies for Achieving Housing Goals

Erica Beaudin
Chief
Cowessess First Nation

Laurie Carr
Chief
Hiawatha First Nation

Mary Duckworth
Chief
Caldwell First Nation

Hear directly from community Chiefs as they address the most pressing housing challenges from over-housing and under-housing, as well as accommodating the needs of elders and children alike.

Keynote: Getting Access to Capital

Tracee Smith
President & CEO
Keewaywin Capital Inc.

The biggest barrier to building houses is definitely not will. There’s no argument that we need more houses in our communities. Let’s be honest, it comes down to access to capital. Financial institutions do not provide enough and the financial policies, along with lack of political will at the top, remain barriers. KCI is the first private credit fund in Canada committed to raising private capital to build more Indigenous homes on and off reserve. There is no shortage of capital in this country, it is demonstrating and requesting more capital to be moved and allocated to these types of funds. We will discuss why there needs to be more of these funds and more access to capital to begin meeting the basic needs of our communities. Housing affects all social outcomes in our communities. If we can start there and make a difference then the trickle cross effects are infinite.

Wellness Refreshment Break

CASE STUDY

Investing $2.5 Billion in Prevention Support for Homelessness Initiatives – Concrete Actions to Address Housing Shortages

Lorna Lawrence
Executive Director
Miziwe Biik Development Corporation

The Ontario government is investing an additional $2.9 billion for the Miziwe Biik Development Corporation to support homelessness prevention efforts in the GTA through the province’s Indigenous Supportive Housing Programs (ISHP). Join this session to gain practical real-world insights that can be applied to other communities.

• Developing programs for people to be reintegrated in the community – education, culture programs, employment strategies
• Overcoming barriers of homelessness in an urban setting
• Itemizing the criteria which leads successful repatriation to a nation
• Implementing reintegration strategies and examining what a successful reintegration into a community looks like, and how can it be repeated

Networking Luncheon

TOP 10 QUESTIONS PART 1

What to Ask Your Building Contractor Before They’re Hired

Sharon Winch
Vice President, Credit
Peace Hills Trust Company

Paul Thebeau
President & CEO
CMS (Construction Management Services)

• Finding the right builder and project manager
• How did they do it? How have they been able to control projects, cost over runs, getting things done on timely basis?
• Hear first-hand from Oromocto First Nation on how they’ve worked with their PM and building quality products, on time and at good costs
• What results has Oromocto found with the set up?

An Integrated Service Approach: Creating a Healthy Home Fire to Ensure a Solid Infrastructure

Erica Beaudin
Chief
Cowessess First Nation

Strengthening and Enforcing Robust Housing Policies for an Effective Housing Department from Rent Collection to Repairs

Pauline Lac Seul
Director of Housing
Lac Seul First Nation

• Identifying lessons learned from the last few years and any changes to your housing processes
• Determining what needs to be reviewed and upgraded to better reflect your community’s current housing needs
• Best practices to manage your portfolio using housing policies effectively
• Understand how to develop or update your housing policies and then implement them effectively: Rent collection and arrears
• What policies are enforceable?

Wellness Refreshment Break

Collecting Rental Arrears: How to Structure Collection Programs to Improve Participation and Re-Invest in Community

Audrey DeMarsico
Lawyer
Nelligan O‘Brien Payne LLP

• Relying on an effective housing policy with an easily understood rent collection framework
• Employ a tenant relations officer that communicates, educates, and constantly sends reminders
• Lessons learned throughout the transitional period
• Framing rent collection as a contribution to infrastructure building for the community
  

Indigenous Led Emergency Management

Daphne Farrell, CRSP, CEMC, ABCP
Emergency Management Specialist
EM Canada

• Designing an emergency preparedness plan that highlights the main elements of a disaster including: Mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery
• Understanding the strategies and protocols
• How to identify your hazard identification risk assessment
• Understanding data collection, what it is used for and where to find it Data support, tools, mapping, and technology
• Determining best practices to get information out to the community
• Identifying who the on-site point person is for emergency preparedness

Closing Remarks from the Chairs and Conference Adjourns to Day 2

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Opening Remarks from the Conference Co-Chairs

Audrey DeMarsico
Lawyer
Nelligan O‘Brien Payne LLP

Daphne Farrell, CRSP, CEMC, ABCP
Emergency Management Specialist
EM Canada

Examining the Federal Government’s Obligation for Financial Support: Why St. Theresa Point First Nation is Seeking Legal Action

Rachel Chan
Associate, Litigation
McCarthy Tétrault LLP

St. Theresa Point First Nation in Manitoba filed a national class action lawsuit against the federal government for failing to address the housing crisis on reserves, in June 2023. Hear from those directly involved about the developments of this case as they address the circumstances leading up to the legal action and interpretation of law as it pertains to the federal government’s financial support of Indigenous communities.

Wellness Refreshment Break

Growing Multi-Family Housing Portfolio On Reserve: The Case for Section 18(2), Housing Societies and FNCIDA

Katlia Lafferty
Articled Student
macushlaw
Member
Yellowknives Dene First Nation
Co-founder
National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc

James Struthers
Founder & Managing Lawyer
macushlaw

First Nations face many barriers from inception to occupancy when building housing assets on reserve, in particular for multi-family housing assets where traditional funding and financing is required. These processes nearly always require designations, leases and mortgages, which are costly, risky, slow and time consuming processes.

If implemented carefully, section 18(2) of the Indian Act holds promise as a more simple and affordable pathway to a mortgageable interest.

First Nations also face barriers to efficient, effective, fair, transparent and conflict free operation of housing assets once built, and significant cost to address disputes between provider and resident or provider and tenant. Either retaining a housing society or creating a Nation specific housing society offers the potential to insulate member housing from Nation politics and ensure long-term sustainability of housing assets by ensuring fair and consistent operations of these assets. Residential tenancy laws can be applied on reserve through the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act to provide for more consistent and affordable governance of housing assets and resolution of disputes.

We breakdown the legal background, pathways to implementation, funding and partnership opportunities, and take a deeper look at the Squamish Nation as a case study.

INTERACTIVE THINK TANK

Let’s Build Connections!

Brian Marks
Chief, Administration Officer
Cochrance District Social Services Administration Board

Your opportunity to drive the conversation! During this interactive session, Brian will outline the tri-DSSAB and First Nations works to date, then delegates are invited to break into small discussion groups to see and share how you see First Nations can leverage municipal partnerships to achieve common objectives both on and off reserve. Delegates are encouraged to bring their experiences to the table for constructive conversation. Then present your discussion points with the group and participate in a brief Q&A.

Networking Luncheon

Indigenous Low Carbon Passive Home Build

Lynne Cormier
Program Practitioner- Focus on Low Carbon Building
Keepers of the Circle

Kelly Hyde
Community Advocate
Keepers of the Circle

• Evaluating the housing supply need 
• Navigating land as an issue  
• Empowering Indigenous Women in Construction 
• Success’s that were achieved  

TOP 10 QUESTIONS PART 2

Talking with a Financial Advisor: What You Need to Know Before you Talk to the Bank

Hannah Krueger
Mobile Mortgage Specialist
TD Canada Trust

• How to construct a financial plan that will help achieve your goals – What do you need to know and how can you get the best bang for your buck
• Learn about the different opportunities and models for financing along with different housing models
• How to evaluate all the options and find the smart solution to address specific financial needs both on- and off-reserve, while meeting the unique needs of Nations, members and citizens and businesses

CASE STUDY

Overcoming the Pain Points of Building for Arctic Communities

Tejas Kashyap
Director
Tlicho Investment Corporation

• Overcoming challenges to build in isolated conditions
• Sourcing and transporting supplies for remote areas, including fly-in communities and over ice roads
• Scheduling your build based on seasonal access
• Identifying which building materials and building standards are appropriate for climate
• What are the opportunities and where does the money lie?

Closing Remarks from the Conference Chair and Conference Concludes