The Mission of the First Nation Collegiate (FNC)

The mission of the First Nation Collegiate (FNC) is to build educational skills and knowledge sets to help Alberta fill the current labour shortage and workforce demands. FNC was established to support First Nations students in gaining educational and workforce knowledge linked to their language, culture, traditions, morals, and values. The hope of FNC is to utilize education as a means to create ongoing economic prosperity for First Nations in Alberta, through an innovative model for education that includes both “Hard Skills” (hands-on learning) and “Soft Skills” (Alberta Program of Studies). This program also prepares First Nation students for Post-Secondary education and/or Trades education.

Inherent in this new model for learning are the following key attributes:

First Nation Control of First Nation Education
First Nation Education Act formed with First Nation partners with a primary focus on Inherent Rights and Sovereignty
First Nation Education Governance Codes that respect First Nations and assist them on the path to Self Determination and Nationhood
First Nation Education Framework designed with important learning in the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Social, and Mental realms of teaching and learning, leading to an Alberta High School Diploma or Certificate.
A First Nation Collegiate Authority established on the Seven Sacred Grandfather/Grandmother attributes of:
- Respect
- Wisdom
- Love
- Courage
- Humility
- Truth
- Honesty

Learn More

Join Us today; call 780-818-8844

The First Nation Collegiate (FNC) is in the enviable position of leading change in education through the re-engineering of the First Nation educational landscape in Alberta. With an expert team of educators who believe in First Nation control of First Nation Education, FNC has developed the necessary educational framework, teaching and learning practices, in-person and virtual infrastructures to serve First Nation students across the province.

Treaty and Inherent Rights, coupled with the power of Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982, further supported by the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People and the UN affirming Treaty Rights across Canada for First Nation people, all combine to make this the right time for First Nation control of First Nation Education to develop and grow. Notably, FNC is a First Nation-controlled educational solution run by a Life Long Learning Council of thirteen Knowledge Keepers and Medicine People from the Treaty Six, Seven, and Eight areas across Alberta, forming the Executive Branch of FNC.

FNC has at its core a First Nation Educational Framework and a virtual classroom streaming school program that supports the advancement of First Nation educational ideals, methods, and systems in both a traditional and contemporary sense. It offers curriculum for elementary, junior high, senior high and post secondary education well as Continuing Education (upgrading) programming for students under the age of 19 who have dropped out of school. FNC provides the best in educational programming for First Nation members.

By combining the best of real-world experiences relatable to First Nation students with hands-on learning from a First Nation perspective, FNC has created an educational system that aligns with the language, traditions, and cultural ways of life for First Nation students in Alberta. Teaching methods are engaging, fun, and interactive, with FNC staff embedding First Nation experiences, language, values, morals, and stories into the curricular outcomes. All of this is integrated into a robust and rigorous Alberta Education curriculum designed to boost participant’s self-esteem, foster a thirst for knowledge, skill, and attribute acquisition, and cultivate a love for “ever-increasing knowledge.”