McGill’s School of Social Work, Indigenous Access McGill and the Cree School Board are launching a new Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program. It aims to serve and reflect the people of iiyiyiu aschii by adapting the content and delivery of courses to Cree priorities and values.
“This new program is based on relationships, connecting with the community, and truly embraces the concept of nothing about us without us” said Ann Seymour, associate professor in the School of Social Work and one of those involved in creating the new program.
“We’re really thrilled to announce that, for this first year, all of the instructors are Indigenous, something we see as a testament to strong collaborations,” Seymour said.
Darlene Cheechoo, director of Higher Learning at the Cree School Board, said her board has been working with other Cree entities and leaders to ensure that the program fulfils their communities’ training and capacity-building needs and is accessible to iiyiyiu aschii students.
“We aimed to ensure that the Cree language, culture and reality were incorporated throughout and that, upon completion of our program, students will have the highest quality, culturally relevant education that will assist them in their chosen career path, benefitting those in our Nation whom they will serve,” Cheechoo said.
Adapting curriculum to land-based learning
As in a standard Bachelor of Social Work program, there will be subject competencies to achieve and accreditation requirements to meet. A significant difference is that students will be able to do so while remaining in their communities, where iiyiyiu culture and wisdom are rooted. Students will also study Cree language. The academic schedule will reflect community life, for example factoring in a break for goose-hunting season in the spring.
Indigenous experts and instructors collaborated with McGill’s online programs instructional design team to adapt standard classroom content for synchronous and asynchronous online delivery, and traditional knowledge to an academic framework.
“They helped us find ways to bridge gaps between the way a colonial institution delivers information and assesses knowledge, and community-focused wisdom and experience.
This includes consideration of where Indigenous and Western perspectives converge,” said Seymour.
“This work has challenged us to think beyond conventional academic structures and embrace a more relational, holistic approach to teaching and learning. Indigenous pedagogy reminds us that knowledge is not just transmitted, it is shared, lived, and rooted in community,” said Maggie Lattuca, associate director, Online Programs, Teaching and Academic Programs.
Meeting the needs of Cree students
Minnie Loon Petawabano, a Mistissini School Commissioner who is completing a Master’s degree in Social Work at Carleton University, noted that having Cree instructors may be especially helpful to iiyiyiu aschii students.
“Most of my professors were not Indigenous. However, those who were helped me relate to and have a deeper understanding of issues experienced in the Cree Nation,” she said.
Petawabano said the new program will add value to community service delivery.
“We need staff who are part of the Quebec Order of Social Workers. The degree is important to our organization, but it’s also important to individuals, because it provides skills and knowledge in social-work practice.”
Prospective student Alice Petawabano already has a degree in Political Science. However, she’s willing to undertake a new Bachelor’s degree if it allows her to move to the front-line of helping her community of Mistissini deal with the legacy of colonialism.
“The impacts of Indian Acts, policies of assimilation, residential schools: all of those things had a generational impact on our community,” she said. “This program would allow me to help those in crisis directly, without having to leave my home and family again.”
An important step toward reconciliation
Seymour said the successful program-design experience can serve as a model for the development of other Bachelor’s degree programs for Indigenous students, as well as help to meet the goal of increasing Indigenous content in curriculums, as set out in the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and subsequently, in McGill’s 52 Calls to Action.
“The TRC called on institutions of higher learning to engage with Indigenous pedagogies, systems of knowledge, values and worldviews as part of course curriculum,” noted Brittanny Janvier, director in the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII).
“The new BSW responds directly to McGill’s 52 Calls to Action, notably Call #30, #33 and #51. Those relate to Indigenous-led social work training, land-based pedagogies, and building strong partnerships with Indigenous communities,” she said.
Though the first BSW cohort is still a few months away from beginning the program, there is already a feeling of having passed a first test:
“When we started to spread the word about the new program, we got four times as many applicants as we could accept for this first year – both for the full-time and part-time degrees. Hopefully, those we can’t accept this year will try again for September 2026,” said Seymour.
To learn more about the new Social Work program, please visit this Cree School Board webpage