National Centre of Excellence opens doors

The Wabano National Centre of Excellence has been officially opened and is now providing the National Capital Region’s Aboriginal community with a centre dedicated to its needs. The new centre will be run by the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, which provides a wide range of social services, health supports, and youth programs for Ottawa’s 35,000 Aboriginal people. In its 14 year history in Ottawa, Wabano has had dramatic success in creating programs that reduce local homelessness, poverty, unemployment, addiction rates and family violence among Aboriginal people. The new 25,000-square-foot expansion provides new meeting spaces for community groups, outreach and after school programs, crisis intervention initiatives, and career training and workshops while showcasing Aboriginal art and culture. The federal government contributed $1.9 million and the Ontario government contributed $2.3 million through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. In addition, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada contributed $750,000 through Commemoration, a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health is contributing the remainder of the $16 million.