One laptop per child (OLPC) is an organization dedicated in creating educational opportunities for children by providing them “with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop”. In 2010 OLPC was brought to Canada to assist in improving the quality of Aboriginal Canadians’ education. In addition to the traditional programs offered on OLPC, OLPC Canada designed specific programs for Aboriginal Youth.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s goal is to raise Canadian living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. A research report by the C.D. Howe Institute looks at “Understanding the Aboriginal/Non-Aboriginal Gap in Student Performance”. They examine the differences between aboriginal students in different school districts and try to determine why some aboriginal students perform well and others do not.  The successful school districts “emphasize Aboriginal education success as a long-term priority, involve Aboriginal leaders and the broader community, use objective data on Aboriginal student performance in design of policy and follow through on policy implementation.”

Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) is an aboriginal public post-secondary institute in British Columbia, located in Vancouver and Merritt.  NVIT believes that exploring knowledge from an aboriginal perspective provides the educational strength and leadership to enhance their communities.  Their goal is to provide a rich educational and cultural campus through quality education, while upholding aboriginal cultures and traditions. Almost all courses offered at NVIT contain aboriginal values, beliefs and culture.

The First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) was developed in 1992 and is led by representatives of First Nations across the province of British Columbia. This independent society aim is to improve education for all First Nations learners throughout the province. They provide a verity of programs from school programs, Special Education programs and community programs.

The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) looks at current and effective approaches to learning in various settings throughout Canada. One report developed by the CCL in 2009 was “The State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada: A holistic approach to measuring success“. This report is the first comprehensive framework in Canada for measuring aboriginal learning. In in it experts across Canada who specialized in aboriginal learning determined three main components of a holistic lifelong learning (1) Sources and Domains of Knowledge, (2) The Lifelong Learning Journey and (3) Community Well-being. This new approach does not just look at an aboriginal student’s success in school but also reflects the holistic lifelong learning that take places through early childhood education, participation in the community, learning about aboriginal languages and traditions and culture.

The Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs website provides information on Aboriginal policies and programs and provides many links to Ontario government programs, services and information. They also provide a document on the Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework. They outline the strategic policy context where they intend “to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in the areas of literacy and numeracy, retention of students in school, graduation rates, and advancements to post-secondary studies” by 2016.

Improving Education on Reserves: A First Nations Education Authority Act is a paper that examines why the current and traditional education system is not working for aboriginal students living on a reserve. It stresses the importance and outlines strategies for creating a new educational system for these students that transforms all schools on reserves and not just one-off developments.

While education for all Canadians is supported by the Government of Canada, the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) is responsible for members of First Nations communities located on reserves. They work with the First Nation leaders and the members of the communities to strengthen the educational programs for young people attending school, in addition to providing funding for elementary and secondary school programs in addition to helping cover tuition and travel costs.

The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative (MAEI) provides educational projects that support Aboriginal Canadian students. Some of the projects created are aboriginal-focused textbooks and teachers’ resources that reflect aboriginal students and were created by Aboriginal teachers who have taught grades 11 and 12 programs. Another initiative is trying to improve the quality of education in elementary schools on reserves to improve literacy and numeracy.

The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) website promotes and supports research on lifelong learning in Canada.  Their Aboriginal section provides a variety of links to information on Aboriginal learning through videos and reports, articles on lessons in learning, as well as holistic lifelong learning models. One article in particular identifies how Aboriginal communities measuring success in learning and despite their diversity. They share a common vision of learning, which is that it is lifelong and engages all aspects of an individual including emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual, and the community.