Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - June 6 2024 - The First Nations University of Canada is set to establish a new institute to track Indigenous economic prosperity in Canada by collecting data on population, businesses, land, and resources.

The institute will serve as a catalyst for change, promoting innovative solutions and fostering economic resilience within Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

The Mastercard Foundation is putting forward $6 million over five years, while the McConnell Foundation is adding another $1.5 million over the same time frame.

The institute fulfills a call to action from the National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada, which focuses on four pillars: people, lands, infrastructure, and finance.

The strategy emphasizes entrepreneurship, the Indigenous labour force, jurisdiction over Indigenous communities, infrastructure, and developing the financial capital communities need to achieve economic and social prosperity on their own terms.

The institute aims to drive research, training, and policy development that will push forward economic transformations and reconciliation in communities.