Manitoba teachers to complete treaty education training by end of 2025

Manitoba teachers and staff will have to complete a training course about treaties as part of the province's plan to teach kindergarten to Grade 12 students about them, the government announced in a release Wednesday.

By Dec. 31, 2025, Manitoba K-12 teachers will need to have finished the two-day course. All other school staff will need to have taken one day of the training. 

"The treaties are foundational agreements in Canada. They are part of our shared history and hold the promise of a prosperous future for Canadians and First Nations peoples," treaty commissioner Loretta Ross said in the release.

"This new plan to ensure treaty education is embedded in the education of our young people will have widespread effects across society, bringing people together and helping them embody the spirit of the treaties throughout their lives."

The training is part of the province's Treaty Education for All plan, which aims to make sure teachers, staff and students "understand the importance of the original spirit and intent of treaties," the plan says.

The province created the plan, released Wednesday, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's calls to action no. 62i, which calls on governments to make curriculum about treaties a mandatory education requirement for K-12 students in Canada, the province said.

The Manitoba government will spend up to $1.3 million on more than 2,000 treaty education resource kits, thanks to funding from the Indigenous Reconciliation Initiatives Fund, it said in the release. The kits will be sent to Manitoba schools this upcoming school year.

The plan also includes the development of a Grade 12 course. Some teachers will  also be chosen to help make sure the treaty education plan is implemented, the province says.

The plan was created by the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba and the province. Representatives from the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, the Manitoba Teachers' Society, Manitoba Association of School Superintendents, Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools and the Indigenous Inclusion Directorate Advisory Council were also part of the group that developed the plan.

"Learning about the importance of the treaties and how they affect relationships with Indigenous communities is a key step in moving forward with reconciliation and having these resources available in schools will help with that work," Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke said in the release.

"As we learn more, we can help build respect and understanding, and be better positioned to take action towards reconciliation."