Prince George

The structure for the new Prince George Urban Aboriginal Strategy (PGUAS) was ratified at a community engagement session held at the Prince George Native Friendship Centre in September, 2007. This session allowed interested Prince George Aboriginal community members the opportunity to provide input on the delivery, structure and priority areas for the new PGUAS.

Participants at the engagement session approved a management team of twelve to fourteen community seats with additional seats for the four levels of government, (federal, provincial, municipal and First Nation) and incorporating three seats for youth representatives (aged 18 to 30). Eleven of these seats were filled by volunteers and the management team structure was ratified by all those who attended the engagement session.

March, 2008, the PGUAS management team hosted a community gathering at the Prince George Civic Centre. The urban Aboriginal community - through the submission of 122 surveys - identified the following four PGUAS priority areas:

1. Elder Care;
2. Trades Training;
3. Health & Wellness; and,
4. Afterschool / Youth Programming.

These four priority areas formed the basis of the PGUAS 2008/2009 Request for Proposal process, which resulted in 11 projects being funded, and will continue to guide PGUAS strategic planning activities.

In June 2009, the PGUAS management team finished developing a three-year strategic plan to address PGUAS organizational, program and operational goals and activities. Program approaches and goals will be based on the four community-identified priority areas with the overall strategic goal of increasing by 5% the number of students staying in school between 2009 and 2012. For the purposes of achieving this overall strategic goal, the PGUAS has defined students to include junior and senior high school students and people involved in adult upgrading.

The PGUAS will be entering into a three-year agreement with the Prince George Nechako Aboriginal Employment Training Association (PGNAETA) to act as the community entity for the continued delivery of the PGUAS.

PGUAS website .