Transforming relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people

The Community Learning Program (CLP) is more than a training program. 

It’s an experiential, community-building and personally transformative journey designed to support Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to work together in good relationships. 

You will be guided by Indigenous worldviews, local teachings, Elders, and skilled facilitators who create a space for heart-based learning, openness, reflection and shared growth. 

We guarantee that you will leave this program forever changed. 



What Makes the Community Learning Program Unique

The Community Learning Program (CLP) offers a learning experience that is grounded in cultural safety, relationships, and lived experience. Participants are welcomed into a space that prioritizes safety, non‑judgement, and warmth, meeting each learner exactly where they are on their learning journey.

Through this program, participants:

  • Experience care, acceptance, and respect, regardless of prior knowledge or experience
  • Build confidence and practical skills for engaging in respectful conversations and interactions across cultures
  • Form meaningful and lasting connections with others in their community
  • Learn through a highly interactive, culturally grounded, and story‑based approach, guided by the lived experiences of local Indigenous community members and Elders
  • Joyfully engage with and celebrate Indigenous cultures, fostering hope, accountability, and momentum for change

CLP is intentionally designed to honour different learning needs. Indigenous and non‑Indigenous participants are supported through distinct learning pathways where appropriate, creating space for reflection, accountability, and growth, while coming together regularly to learn in relationship.

Learning unfolds across self‑paced online modules and in‑person, facilitation‑led sessions, combining foundational knowledge with dialogue, storytelling, reflection, and practice. Rather than focusing on “right answers,” CLP emphasizes ongoing learning, kindness, and shared responsibility as participants explore culture, communication, volunteerism, and what it means to work together in good ways.

Through this program, you will

  • Be supported

    Experience safety, non-judgement and warm acceptance no matter where you are on your learning journey

  • Find Confidence

    Gain confidence and concrete skills for more respectful conversations and interactions across cultures

  • Connect with Community

    Form lasting connections with others in your community

  • Experience Guidance

    Be guided through a highly interactive, culturally-grounded and story-based approach that features the lived experiences of local Indigenous community members and Elders

  • Create Momentum

    Joyfully celebrate Indigenous cultures, inspiring hope and momentum to create change

Past CLP participants include

  • Mental health providers

  • Health care workers

  • Outreach workers

  • Teachers and professors

  • Police officers

  • Non-profits

  • Students

  • Retirees

  • And more!

What people are saying about the Community Learning Program

"I no longer feel as though I'm performing reconciliation; now, I am truly participating in it."

"The community learning program inspires an ethic of humility through care, community and compassionate learning. I highly recommend it to all learners, regardless of where they are in their learning journey."

"This program was so beautifully curated to create a safe and constructive way to absorb, learn and reflect. I feel so much love for everyone who shared their stories and worked to bring it together. I truly believe everyone should take this program."

"Encouraging, supportive and filled with positive and heavy emotions. You’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry, and you’ll also cry about the weight of this work—but you will feel supported throughout it all."

What is included

  • online self-led course on understanding Indigenous cultures and preparing to engage respectfully in person
  • two-day in-person experiential learning with Knowledge Keepers and cultural practices
  • warm hospitality, expressed through hot lunch, coffee, tea and snacks
  • a beautifully designed, interactive, printed activity booklet
  • completion certificate aligned with professional development expectations
  • locally trained, culturally responsive and trauma informed facilitators


Cost: $1500 inclusive. No fees are charged until you are placed in a cohort. 

You must attend all in-person days of the program, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When you register, please choose a cohort in which you have full availability to participate.

A limited number of sponsorships are available if cost is a barrier. Check out the FAQs for more information and click here for the sponsorship policy. 

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory VNFC stands and the Songhees, Xwepsum and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day