Course to enhance Aboriginal fund management

A new program at Lethbridge College is designed to educate students from all walks of life who are interested in becoming experts at helping their communities manage trust funds.

The National Aboriginal Trustee Accreditation Program is a 60-hour course that offers students the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to enhance Aboriginal fund management step-by-step.

“We can have people right out of high school who only have basic knowledge, or we can have people with MBAs that are taking (the course),” said Sean Miles, administrator for business training development at Lethbridge College.

The online program will be broken down into modules where each student can work at their own pace.

The National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association collaborated with Lethbridge College to create the program, which will be divided into a preliminary phase, followed by a trust-management portion.

Creating a formal education program that instructs students on the complexities of trust management is a key portion of NATOA’s mandate.

Members work with Aboriginal communities across Canada by helping to manage and operate trusts in an efficient manner.

Miles explained that the more effective trustee managers are, the more money there is to invest back into the community for future generations.

“Responsibly managing and maximizing investments is critical to the economic and social well- being of Aboriginal communities,” said NATOA chair Wyatt Arcand in a press release.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and TD Bank Financial Group also recognized the National Aboriginal Trustee Accreditation Program as a worthwhile investment. Both partnered with NATOA and Lethbridge College to provide funding to develop the program.
INAC director of communications Glenn Luff said the entire investment from all partners was $158,000.  INAC contributed $80,000, which was used mostly for administrative start-up costs.

Lethbridge College is still in the process of figuring out how much each student will pay to register for the course. However, Miles said they are trying to make the cost to students as low as possible and predicted it will work out to around $550 per registrant.

“We do six-hour courses that range from $150 to $200,” said Miles, who stressed how economical the program is. “If you spread that out over 60 hours it would be around $2,000.”

A specific start date for the program has not yet been determined, but Miles expects the first round will commence sometime this summer.

NATOA currently helps manage almost $200-million worth of trust funds among their members. Their goal is to be responsible for all Aboriginal trusts within Canada, which comes to $5-billion.