NAN Housing Strategy Team
Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Together Design Lab have worked together on Housing and Infrastructure related projects over the past 5 years.​
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Together we bring together expertise in completing multi-year, large partnership based projects with northern First Nations and challenges of working in remote fly-in settings.
This partnership has taken a unique approach to research and development by focusing on Community Engagement and Community voices. By partnering with Toronto Metropolitan University, NAN has been able to create connection between Community voices and research which can lead to higher level policy change.
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Together Design Lab takes on a unique process of data collection which ensures NAN Community members are at the forefront of the data and gives NAN control over the direction of data collection and research.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) was established in 1973, and was originally known as Grand Council Treaty No. 9 until 1983. Grand Council Treaty No. 9 made a public declaration – A Declaration of Nishnawbe-Aski (The People and the Land) – of our rights and principles in 1977.
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NAN territory encompasses James Bay Treaty No. 9 and the Ontario portion of Treaty No. 5, a landmass covering two-thirds of the Province of Ontario, spanning 210,000 square miles. Our people traditionally speak Cree and Algonquin in the east, OjiCree in the west, and Ojibway in the central south area.
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NAN represents 49 First Nations with a total population (on and off-reserve) of approximately 45,000 people grouped by Tribal Council. Six of our member Nations are not affiliated with a specific Tribal Council.
NAN's Infrastructure and Housing Department
The Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Infrastructure and Housing Department provides advocacy and support related to housing, infrastructure, water, transportation, fire safety, and emergency management. For more information about the department, please reach out to nanhousing@nan.ca
Together Design Lab
Together Design Lab from Toronto Metropolitan University takes a collaborative approach to investigating and co-creating solutions to housing issues with marginalized communities in Canada. Directed by Dr. Shelagh McCartney, TDL relies on an immersive model of partnership, bringing an interdisciplinary team of students and collaborators together with communities to understand the meaning of housing in shaping lived experience. Recognizing the cultural, gendered and classed implications of dominant housing systems, this model of partnership looks to reimagine home environments through the values, goals and aspirations of our partners. Housing issues and solutions are not limited to discussions of basic shelter provision but are understood as a central unit of analysis of personal and community well-being.