A new online training program promises to provide aboriginal people with financial skills and knowledge required to properly manage trust funds.
Lethbridge College is teaming up with the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association to offer an online course to teach the best practices of trust management.
While many aboriginal communities have millions in holdings, the people charged with overseeing this wealth have varying degrees of education and knowledge, said Wyatt Arcand, an Alexander resident who chairs the National Aboriginal Trust Officers Association.
“Right now there’s no specific job description to be a trust officer for your first nation. That’s what we’re moving towards. We want to make sure that everybody’s educated with the tools to properly administer trust funds,” Arcand said.
The program will start delivering nationally in May.
“It’s necessary so that aboriginal peoples across Canada first, become better educated with regards to trusts and second, take care of those yet unborn,” Arcand said.
Some communities have volunteers overseeing their money while others, like Alexander, have full-time employees at the helm, said Arcand, who is the band’s trust officer.
The Department of Indian Affairs used to handle funds on behalf of First Nations but over the years bands have been taking over their own affairs, he said.
Canada-wide, estimates put the value of all aboriginal trusts in the billions, said Alexander Chief Allan Paul. Improving returns by just two per cent would put hundreds of millions of dollars in the hands of aboriginal communities, he said.
“Enhancing the management of these funds will make a significant impact on the well-being of aboriginal communities across the country,” Paul said.
Since 1999, the Alexander band has settled two land claims worth about $78 million, which it has invested, Arcand said. The new online certification program will help him better manage the money and he’s hoping that others in the band will also take the training so they have a better understanding of financial matters.
“The more I learn, the better I can serve my community,” Arcand said.
Lethbridge College delivers a number of training programs that are accessed by First Nations communities in Southern Alberta so the college’s involvement with the new program is an extension of existing relationships, said Sean Miles, administrator of business training for Lethbridge College.
“There’s quite a varying range of skill levels of people going into those positions,” he said. “Sometimes you might have someone that is out of high school … sometimes you have an MBA. We want to kind of bridge the gap and make it consistent.”
The new program is also sponsored by TD Bank Financial Group.
