Indigenous Affairs

Cape Breton University is proud to be the Atlantic Canadian leader in Indigenous post-secondary education, and we’re excited to help make bright futures happen for our Indigenous students and for their communities.

Indigenous culture, heritage and knowledge are integrated into CBU’s Indigenous education options, offering all CBU students the opportunity to not just learn about these cultures, but to learn from them and to apply the teachings throughout their careers.

Through its unique partnerships with Indigenous communities on Cape Breton Island (Unama’ki) and elsewhere in Canada, Cape Breton University has been able to establish a number of impactful innovations in education for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge sharing.  These include:

• The development of Unama’ki College which provides outreach and support for Indigenous learners and which is largely responsible for the successful graduation of nearly 1,000 Indigenous students in recent decades.  Unama’ki College is currently developing a significant scholarly research capability anchored in health, environment and well-being and a new undergraduate program based on the concept of ‘two eyed seeing’ to build on the positive experience of Integrative Science programming.

• The delivery of ‘in-community’ teaching on Cape Breton Island (Unama’ki), mainland Nova Scotia, and Quebec involving BA, BA (Community Studies), BBA, BEd, and MBA delivery.

• The development of an MBA program which enrols more Indigenous learners than any MBA program in Canada (approximately 30 at the present time).
• The development of a youth mentorship program, In.Business, that supports students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 planning on attending community college or university with an interest in potentially studying business.  This program is comprised of students from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador.