HALIFAX — Multiple levels of government have announced new joint funding of $15 million to support the construction of a new Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre in the Halifax region.
The facility will provide additional space for the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society to provide programming to 7,000 urban Indigenous clients living in Halifax. The new centre will also highlight Mi’kmaw culture and heritage in the city while serving as a site for the urban Indigenous community to gather for community events.
The federal government is contributing $5 million to the project through the Community, Culture and Recreation Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, while the Government of Nova Scotia is spending $10 million.
The new funding is in addition to the $28.8 million from the federal Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund and $4 million from the Urban Programming for Indigenous People stream that the federal government announced for the project last year.
The Halifax Regional Municipality previously supported the project with a land transfer and the pending demolition of existing infrastructure.
“Each day, a number of urban Mi’kmaw and Indigenous people walk through the doors of the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre looking for services, support, a safe space and understanding. This funding investment is another important step toward building the Wije’winen Centre and helping their team support a growing population,” stated Chief Annie Bernard-Daisley, co-chair of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, in a statement.
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