ABSN Saskatchewan

The Aboriginal Context in Saskatchewan

In 2001, there were 130,190 Aboriginal people living in Saskatchewan, making up approximately 14% of the population, compared to 4.4% of the total Canadian population. Of Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal population, 83,745 (64%) were First Nations, 43,695 (34%) were Métis, and 235 (0.2%) were Inuit.

The Aboriginal population in Saskatchewan is young when compared to the population as a whole: the median age of Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal population in 2001 was 20.1, whereas the median age of the non-Aboriginal population was 38.8. In addition, 25% of children under the age of 14 in Saskatchewan were Aboriginal, while only 5.6% of all Canadian children were Aboriginal.

In 2001, 52% of Aboriginal people had completed at least high school, compared with approximately 70% of non-Aboriginals people. Those living in urban areas had higher average levels of education. The average annual income for Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan was $15,961, compared with $26,914 for non-Aboriginal people. In 2005, the employment rate for Aboriginal people in the Western provinces was lowest in Saskatchewan, at 50.7%.

The key land claim issues in Saskatchewan are over entitlements as they are in Manitoba. Entitlement claims for some bands have been outstanding since 1874 and currently, there are approximately 26 bands with outstanding entitlement claims in Saskatchewan. In December 1996, the Office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan was re-established to facilitate self-government negotiations and to assist with exploratory discussions on treaty issues. Subsequently, the mandate of the Office, created in 1989, was expanded.

Program Implementation

In Saskatchewan, the CBSC had been working with an ABSN Coordinator since 2000. The Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology conducted a survey of Aboriginal businesses for the project and ABSN staff conducted one-on-one consultations with Aboriginal Economic Development Officers. The current program in Saskatchewan is based on what was learned from meetings between the ABSN Coordinator and a variety of stakeholders, including Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations personnel, tribal council chiefs and employees, Aboriginal entrepreneurs, and Aboriginal educational institutions. These meetings helped to determine what was needed and created awareness of the CSBSC and its resources. Based on this research, the CBSC developed an action plan for the ABSN and established an ABSN Advisory Committee. By August 2003, formal partnerships had been signed with seven Aboriginal organizations to deliver ABSN services. Such services included three mobile business information libraries and products like Bookkeeping from a Shoebox.

In 2004/05, partnership agreements were confirmed with organizations already capable of providing business information and other services to Aboriginal clients; currently, there are 19 partners and 20 more have been identified with immediate potential. Partners can access assistance from ABSN as needed, either online or by telephone. In particular, CAP sites were used to provide Internet access to remote locations, allowing ABSN to reach a wider audience and to provide more resources online.

The national ABSN website was modified to emphasize information important to Aboriginal entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan. Website training was provided to all partners and youth interns were placed at CAP sites to facilitate the dissemination of information and the use of interactive tools.

Bookkeeping from a Shoebox is a hands-on workshop providing participants with the ability to set up a basic bookkeeping system for their businesses. Fifteen trainers have been certified and a wide variety of promotional materials and visual aids have been developed, and they are indeed compact enough to fit in a shoebox! The program has adapted to serve the needs of its clientele through the use of multiple delivery methods; it can be run either on four consecutive days, in weekly or biweekly sessions, or as evening workshops. The program has received the Minister’s Award for Innovation and its success has led to the development of, or plans for, similar programs dealing with other aspects of business, including Marketing from a Shoebox, Financial Decisions from a Shoebox, and Computerized Bookkeeping from a Shoebox.

Another resource developed by ABSN Saskatchewan involved the development of three mobile libraries that originally rotated among early program partners. However, as the program has evolved, the mobile libraries have decreased in importance and information is disseminated primarily through the Internet.

ABSN Saskatchewan has worked to encourage youth entrepreneurship in Saskatchewan. The website includes a number of Aboriginal youth success stories and an online scavenger hunt contest designed to create awareness and facilitate use of the website. In addition, guidance counselors at schools on reserves received career resource kits targeting the youth sector. In order to promote ABSNs role in youth entrepreneurship, the program developed a PowerPoint presentation and met with stakeholders.

The communications and project team coordinator for ABSN Saskatchewan has a variety of roles and tasks: the organization of an Advisory Committee to assist in implementing and developing ABSN initiatives; the creation of a quarterly newsletter, distributed both in hard copy and electronically; the production of various documents for the purposes of information dissemination, promotion, and partner and workshop participant recognition; efforts to increase the effective use of available resources; and the creation of a link with the Raj Manek Mentorship Program.

Outputs

Based on a review of documents, in 2004/05 the measurable outputs of ABSN Saskatchewan included:

19 partners around the province, with the immediate potential for 20 more;
77 personnel at partner sites trained in website use;
750 career resource kits distributed to guidance counselors in on-reserve schools;
3 mobile libraries;
22 Bookkeeping in a Shoebox workshops conducted with a total of 195 participants (117 of whom were Aboriginal, including 104 participants living on-reserve);
20,278 web hits made by 8,213 unique visitors; and
195 visits to the On-Line Scavenger Hunt website, with 89 contest entrants.

<< previous | next >>