San’yas Core Indigenous Cultural Safety Training

Dear Langara College CUPE Local 15 Members:

We are pleased to announce the opportunity for CUPE Local 15 members at Langara College to participate in a pilot for San’yas Core Indigenous Cultural Safety Training. This is a paid course offered by the Employer and CUPE 15 for CUPE members at Langara College with funds negotiated in the last round of bargaining. The course will be done while at work on regular work days and members will be paid their regular wages to take this course. We are currently opening and prioritizing registration to permanent CUPE members/employees first.

San’yas Core Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) Foundations training focuses on key components of cultural safety, including cultural diversity of Indigenous people, colonization, stereotyping, anti-Indigenous racism, workplace culture, and ways to increase cultural safety. The training provides information, encourages critical reflection, and teaches skills to enhance the quality of your work.

Skilled facilitators will guide and support each learner through interactive course materials. Participants will examine culture, stereotyping, and the consequences and legacies of colonization. Participants will learn about terminology, diversity, aspects of colonial history such as Indian residential schools and Indian Hospitals, as well as a timeline of historical events.

Learning is self-paced over an eight-week window and typically takes between ten and twelve hours to complete, though this could be longer or shorter depending on your style of learning – most learners spend an hour a week on the course. Upon successful completion of the course materials and full participation in the discussion boards, at the end of the 8 weeks, participants will receive a certificate.

Please note that this training requires a deep level of engagement, as there is a level of critical reflection. While this course is self-paced over an eight-week window, we recommend that you set aside some time weekly for your course work and reflections. The Registrar, San’yas: Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, Indigenous Health, Provincial Health Services Authority recommends that if you are planning to be on an extended vacation or leave (longer than 2 weeks), that you postpone your participation in this training until a later date when you can fully engage in the training on a weekly basis.

Once you commit to the course and are registered, it is expected that you will complete the course within the time period allocated for the cohort. Your leader at Langara College should be informed of your registration and commitment to this course also. This will ensure that members will be allocated dedicated time at work to take the San’yas training.

Currently there are weekly starts to each cohort; please use the following registration link to indicate your interest and your top 2 choices of cohort start date. The College will then coordinate and confirm your registration. For this initial offering, we ask that you submit your interest to attend this course by November 12th 2021.

*Important: Once enrolled in this training, you will not be able to drop the course midway and re-enroll. The College will not accept enrollment again for this course and it may have an impact on your eligibility to enroll in future opportunities.

Sincerely,

Gail Johnson