History of Friendship Centres

The Friendship Centre Movement began in the mid-1950s when groups were formed in most urban areas across Canada to represent the interests of the increasing number of Aboriginal peoples migrating from outlying reserves. These early Friendship Centres existed mainly as referral agencies between established social service organizations and urban Aboriginal residents. Funding of these early Centres was dependent on individual volunteers and their ability to raise operating funds though various fundraising events and private donations.

As the stream of new arrivals continued to grow throughout 1960s, Friendship Centre staff became increasingly aware of the need to extend their services beyond a referral mandate. For this to be possible, increased organization and adequate funding for each Centre were necessary. To support this transition, in the late 1960s Friendship Centres began organizing into Provincial/Territorial Associations (PTAs): unifying bodies aimed at providing administrative support to each of the local Friendship Centres within their specified region.

With the increased organization and supportive network that ensued from the creation of the PTAs, local Friendship Centres were able to expand their services beyond their referral mandate to concentrate on proactively encouraging and assisting Aboriginal peoples to adjust more successfully to their new urban environment. With this refocus, both the public at large as well as Provincial and Federal governments began to recognize the viability and importance of the Friendship Centre Aboriginal self-reliance movement.

In 1972, the government of Canada’s support of the movement was formally recognized with her implementation of the Migrating Native Peoples Program (MNPP); providing operational funding to each of the then 40 Centres across Canada. The MNPP was renamed the Aboriginal Friendship Centre Program (AFCP) in 1988. The federal government’s commitment to supporting Friendship Centres has been ongoing with the renewal of the Aboriginal Friendship Centres Program. The AFCP program now provides core operational funding to 115 local Friendship Centres across Canada—20 of which are located in communities throughout Alberta.

Making a difference in Alberta...

The ANFCA History

On April 28th, 1970, the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association (ANFCA) was the first Provincial/Territorial Association to be incorporated. Since our inception, the ANFCA’s mandate has surged forward. Today we have one of the largest memberships in Canada: working in partnership with 20 Friendship Centres located in most major urban areas across Alberta building a future of wellness, equality and understanding for an urban Aboriginal population of more than 199,000.

Each of the 20 Friendship Centres is dedicated to providing culturally-based programs and services that respond to the distinct needs of urban Aboriginal people in their communities and bridging the gaps that occur between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in urban areas. In particular, Friendship Centres are recognized by government and community members for:

  • contributing to the revitalization of Aboriginal culture
  • developing greater awareness and understanding of Aboriginal peoples and their role in Alberta communities; and
  • providing social, health, youth, children, employment, educational, community development cultural programming to Aboriginal people so that they may live more successfully in urban areas.

The Role of the ANFCA

The ANFCA offers operational and administrative assistance to each Alberta-based Friendship Centre. With an operational foundation made possible by the Alberta Government, the ANFCA has created a basis to meet the needs of the twenty Alberta-based Friendship Centres With a goal to provide effective support to Friendship Centres, the ANFCA offers support in the following key areas:

  • Board development support and training;
  • Management support and training of Friendship Centre staff;
  • Culturally relevant resource development;
  • Provincial management and delivery of the nationally mandated UMAYC and AFCP agreements;
  • Partnership and coalition building;
  • Development and implementation of provincial initiatives:
  • Alberta Aboriginal Youth Council
  • Alberta Aboriginal Elders’ Wisdom Circle
  • Urban Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (AUDI)
  • HIV/AIDS Online Resources Centre
  • Building Healthy Boards
  • Responding to Diversity – A Cultural Awareness Program
  • The Indigenous Friendship International Initiative
  • Provincial Communications Strategy

ANFCA Past Successes

  • The Aboriginal Women’s Program: facilitating and supporting the creation of Aboriginal Women’s Groups in each Friendship Centre (in partnership with Canadian Heritage and Status of Women Canada);
  • The Aboriginal Employment Services Program: assisting Friendship Centres to more effectively ensure Aboriginal peoples living in urban areas have access to receive the culturally appropriate training and support they need when looking for meaningful employment (in partnership with Alberta Advanced Education);
  • The Economic Development Program: encouraging and supporting each Friendship Centre as they seek alternative avenues of financial self-sufficiency;
  • The Internet Connectivity Project: that has connected each Friendship Centre to the World Wide Web: providing a forum for increased communication and public awareness (in partnership with Industry Canada);
  • The Wiya Wapaki Program: Culturally-based HIV/AIDS Awareness and Prevention through resource material development and community-based interaction.