Indigenous health engagement
Indigenous stories, experiences and perspectives are important. At Covenant, we are committed to advancing Truth and Reconciliation in practical ways. The Indigenous health engagement initiative is a vital step towards addressing health inequities and fostering meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities across Alberta.
Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
Learn how Covenant is walking alongside Indigenous communities to build trust, improve care and honour cultural knowledge.
Listening and learning
We are dedicated to understanding the diverse, lived experiences of Indigenous Peoples through respectful and inclusive engagement. By listening, learning and working together with community members, we are setting out to create a health plan centred in Indigenous cultural awareness, traditions and knowledge. The Indigenous health plan will ensure that Covenant is responsive to the needs of Indigenous patients and their families.
Get involved
Share your stories, experiences and perspectives to shape how Covenant provides compassionate care for Indigenous Peoples in Alberta.
All First Nations, Inuit and Métis community members are invited to take part by attending one of our in-person events or by participating through online engagement.
Attend an engagement event
Indigenous health engagement events are opportunities to gather together, learn and share in culturally safe community setting.
Engagement events are being planned across Alberta throughout the spring, summer and fall of 2025. Lunch will be provided, and door prizes will be offered at all events.
Stay tuned for more information on an upcoming event near you.
Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
We honour the wisdom, traditions and healing practices of Indigenous peoples and seek to grow in our ability to journey together in relationships that foster vibrant communities of health and healing. We acknowledge the profound and enduring harms caused by colonial policies and practices, including the role of governments and churches in residential schools and the ongoing inequities in health care. We recognize that hospitals and health systems have not always been safe or welcoming places for Indigenous peoples.
Remorseful for wrongs of the past and present, and guided by our core commitments to justice, dignity and meaningful participation in care, we are committed to advancing Reconciliation in practical ways that are guided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action for health.
On this journey we will strive to:
Listen and learn from Indigenous Peoples, Elders, leaders and community members.
Work together to build respectful relationships that foster health and healing.
Include Indigenous voices in the planning and delivery of compassionate care.
Equip our staff with education and training to improve care for Indigenous peoples.
Engage in ways that are safe, respectful and informed by Indigenous cultural awareness and knowledge.
Living out this commitment will take time, and we know we will not always get it right. We will continually seek to learn, to honour the traditions and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and to work collaboratively to address health inequities.
Next steps
Formal engagements are a first step toward building lasting relationships with Indigenous Peoples in Alberta. By listening to Indigenous health priorities and learning from Indigenous stories and perspectives we’ll explore opportunities for collaboration and partnerships. We want to further reconciliation and address health inequities at Covenant facilities through the frame of a meaningful and practical Indigenous health plan.
Following the conclusion of this phase of engagement, Covenant will issue a report to Indigenous communities outlining what we heard. What we hear will determine how we will proceed in collaboration with Indigenous communities to develop Covenant’s Indigenous health plan.
