As part of the Faculty’s commitment to improving Indigenous inclusion, all U of T Engineering faculty, staff and students are called upon to start or continue their personal journeys towards understanding and acknowledging Indigenous peoples’ history, truths and culture. Launched in 2021, the Indigenous Cultural Competency Toolkit has been created by and with Indigenous leaders to help guide your journey. 

Many Canadian Institutions including the University of Toronto do land acknowledgements before meetings, before convocations and at seminars and conferences, but why do we do them; what is their purpose and are they an effective tool of reconciliation and decolonization. The fear is that land acknowledgements have become largely performative and rote stripping them of their potential to bring about change. These are some of the questions and topics that will be explored in this one and half hour session. 

Facilitator: John Croutch, cultural competency training officer in U of T’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives

View the Indigenous Cultural Competency Toolkit and registration form