The Kijaté Project

In recent years, Val-d’Or has experienced 0% residential vacancy. Research has shown it’s the most difficult city in Québec in which to find a home. This challenge is even greater for Indigenous people, who also experience discrimination from landlords. Many are forced to live in cramped, unsanitary housing, affecting their health and well-being. They desperately need safe, affordable and accessible housing options and access to culturally relevant and safe services.

The Kijaté demonstration project seeks to meet some of that need. A 24-unit social housing project, it provides a culturally relevant, safe living environment for Indigenous people and families in Val-d’Or. Supervised and managed by an urban Indigenous organization, it places Indigenous people at the heart of any sustainable solutions. The demonstration will showcase the project’s strengths and how its model can be effectively applied in settings with similar needs. 

Project scope and expected outcomes

More than housing

Housing realities are not the same for Indigenous people as they are for non-Indigenous families. The need for a home for a family of more than 2 children is more frequent among Indigenous people. Urban Indigenous people also experience prejudice and discrimination from potential landlords and service providers. This further reduces housing supply, and it contributes to isolation, marginalization and difficulties adjusting to city life for many Indigenous people.

Owned by the Val-d’Or Friendship Centre, Kijaté offers units that have more bedrooms. It also provides direct access to services and community programs to help meet the specific needs of Indigenous families.

Kijaté is about more than housing. Part of the Centre’s Indigenous urban society project, Kijaté seeks to create a safe space. It is where residents can gather, develop a sense of belonging and cultural pride and take part in the community. It takes a culturally relevant approach that reflects an understanding of the different contexts in which Indigenous people find themselves.

Offering safe, culturally relevant support

Services—and service access—are central to Kijaté. Access to services is a major issue for urban Indigenous people. Kijaté can help modest-income Indigenous people and their children adjust to city life by offering social inclusion and access to services.

It does this in several ways. Kijaté’s common areas have been designed around the services offered by the Friendship Centre. For instance, it offers communal cooking, workshops and training and psychosocial services. It also could potentially offer front-line services, such as perinatal care or nurse access, on-site or at the Friendship Centre. This service access helps improve the living conditions and social integration of urban Indigenous people.

Better access to safe, culturally relevant housing for urban Indigenous people

The demonstration will showcase the project’s strengths, challenges and successes, as well as its applicability to other settings. It will demonstrate it’s socio-economic impact by comparing the situations of residents before and after they move-in. It will also compare the project with a typical social Indigenous housing project in Ontario. The goal is to isolate the model’s essential elements so they can be replicated locally and nationally.

The demonstration will also seek to analyze and assess Kijaté using culturally relevant criteria. Indigenous and non-Indigenous measures of success are different. The demonstration will reflect this by obtaining results and collecting data consistent with the values and realities of Indigenous people. This approach will also make it easier to replicate the demonstration in other locations.

The project’s findings will be presented to Quebec’s Native Friendship Centre Movement, community partners and the broader community. The goal is to help implement the Kijaté social housing model in cities across Québec and Canada. This will ensure better access to safe, culturally relevant housing and living environments for urban Indigenous people. It also can be used more widely in social housing projects that accommodate Indigenous families.