2024 Annual Report Highlights
2024 Annual Report Highlights
Growing Well
Water First Education & Training Inc. is a non-profit organization in Canada, addressing water challenges in Indigenous communities through education, training, and meaningful collaboration.
Our work is focused on three key areas: Drinking Water, Environmental Water, and School Water. By focusing on technical training and education for youth and adults, Water First aims to support capacity building, and sustained access to safe, clean water in Indigenous communities across Canada.
Water First acknowledges that its main office lies within the traditional territory of the Petun and the Anishnaabeg, which consist of the Odawa, Ojibwe, and the Pottawatomi nations. This territory is covered by Lake Simcoe-Nottawasaga Treaty No. 18, of 1818. We acknowledge that the work we do takes us across Turtle Island, from coast to coast to coast, where the land is home to many Indigenous peoples. We are grateful for the work we do and for the communities we work with.
"We focus on the people part of the equation.
There's an untold story when it comes to water challenges in First Nation communities, and that is that there are local heroes running water plants in Indigenous communities."
Letter from the Board Chair
A Year of Growing Well
How do we measure growth in an organization that works foremost to co-create solutions with Indigenous communities that address complex and inequitable challenges to safe and clean environmental and drinking water? We could talk about the number of new programs Water First has delivered this year. We could talk about increasing staff and capacity to deliver those programs and the growing number of participants who have secured water-science jobs in their communities. These are all significant achievements that deserve to be celebrated, and they will be, in the pages of this report.
Where we find meaningful measurement is in the intention of this growth, and the ways in which it has served the people and communities we work with, our donor partners, and the trajectory of our organization. We are interested not only in growing; but also ensuring we’re growing well.
Growing well means we measure success not only in the bars of a graph, or by following points on a map, but by a unique inner compass and charted pathway developed and informed in collaboration with the people and partners we work so closely with.
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The guiding principles and shared values reflected in our work support this intention at every level. Through trust building, we cultivate the transparency, humility and integrity that result in meaningful partnerships. Through nurturing relationships, we remain dedicated to healthy collaboration and knowledge sharing. And through an unwavering commitment to lasting results, we see the sustainable and long-term benefits for those who build experience, expertise, and careers in water science — providing safe, clean water for their community members.
Each and every member of the Water First organization is committed to these principles, and learns from them every day. Water First trainers, educators, administrators and support staff are meticulous, creative, open-minded and open-hearted in their work. They accept challenges and successes with the same determination to understand the lessons and opportunities in both. And they embody a willingness to be part of a continuous learning journey to better partner with communities and each other. On the board, where we share the guiding principles of intentionality and leading with the uniqueness of Water First at heart, we embrace our commitment with accessibility and collaboration in our stewardship and support.
Although training and education comprise just one aspect of securing sustained access to safe, clean water in Indigenous communities across Canada, it is proven to be a critical piece because it works, and it works well.
So when we talk about what it means to grow well, we express the demand for, and the increase of, our programs. And we also illustrate the learning, the listening, the creativity, the stewardship, and the guiding principles that we grow and follow. These are the best indicators of the health and impact of our organization – and there’s a lot to talk about.
Leanne O'Brien
Board Chair
Our Impact
Our Impact to Date in Numbers
A year of Growing Well means intentional effort, in a meaningful direction. Through thoughtful collaboration, strategic planning, and adaptability, we’ve seen our programs grow or change to reflect the needs of the communities we partner with, the requirements for participants’ success, and the wellbeing of the people who are dedicated to continuing this work.
*As of October 31, 2024.
School Water Program
by students through the
Summer Credit Course
delivered by the School
Water Program team
achieved by interns
the Drinking Water Internship Program
Growing Support
Growing Support
Expenses
Revenues
Water First has been designated a 5-star charity and Top-100 Charity in Canada by Charity Intelligence, recognizing Water First’s above average results reporting score, low overhead spending, and financial transparency.
Read our most recent audited financial statements.
Growing Collaborations
Collaboration and Reciprocal Learning
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. Water First partners with communities that see the benefit of our programs and have identified education and training as a solution to water challenges in their community. But before any program begins, we embark on consultation with community leadership and members, and our expert team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff to deliver programming that meets community-identified training and education needs. These connections are key to our collective success and growth, and nurture the essential qualities of Water First’s approach:
Relationship Building – Meaningful Partnerships – Lasting Results
Our Collaborative Model
“My journey with Water First began as one of the participants in the very first Drinking Water Internship. We were probably all a little unsure of where that journey would lead, but for me, it meant learning and working alongside an amazing group of people, before I embarked on a meaningful start to a career in water science.
Today, I have a job with First Nations Engineering Services, am a member of the Water First Alumni Network, and have the honour of serving on the Water First Indigenous Advisory Council with esteemed Indigenous Elders, helping to guide the work of Water First and their commitment to growing well. Reflecting on my journey, I am deeply grateful for the positive impact Water First has had on my professional growth and development. Chi-Miigwech, Water First, for this invaluable opportunity.”
Learn about our Indigenous Advisory Council.
Growing Programs
School Water Program
By engaging Indigenous youth from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in hands-on STEM workshops within their home communities, the School Water Program aims to prepare and motivate students to consider careers in the local water field. Water First instructors provide unique, engaging learning experiences, promote environmental conservation, and create space for Indigenous Knowledge Keepers to share their valuable insights.
Water First continues to ensure that the teaching and learning is adaptive, flexible, and engaging, with the growth of programming and student success in mind.
delivered to students
this past year
during the past year
were earned in the
summer of 2024
The Summer High School Credit Program
This multi-week, hands-on program allows students to earn a high school credit by diving deep into water science concepts. It also introduces students to potential career paths in water science at a pivotal time in their education.
Connecting classroom curriculum to real-life experiences in the field, the Summer Credit Course gets students out on the land to learn about their local watersheds and take part in dynamic STEM lessons and experiential activities. The course allows students to engage with the land, water, community members, and other organizations working in water and resource protection.
This summer marked the fourth year that the course was offered, and the fourth year that students from Beausoleil First Nation participated! We also returned to Rama First Nation for the summer, grateful for another opportunity to collaborate and learn together. In total, 21 high school credits were successfully earned in the summer of 2024.
Drinking Water Program
The Drinking Water Internship Program directly addresses the complex water challenges faced by Indigenous communities by training and supporting Indigenous adults in becoming certified water treatment plant operators.
The internship recruits individuals to the drinking water field, and helps them obtain entry-level certifications required to begin their careers in water treatment. These paid internships prepare participants for a future in the professional water science field and having local, qualified personnel supports communities in ensuring access to safe, clean drinking water for the long term.
* 12 months post-graduation
Celebrating the completion of another successful internship
Following 15 months of hands-on training, education, and workplace experience, eight participants from Ogemawahj Tribal Council (OTC) communities are now certified water operators. The internship began in July, 2023 and saw each intern complete 1,800 hours of on-the-job training in water treatment plants, which is an integral part of the water operator-in-training certification process.
Interns also successfully pursued additional entry-level certifications and training that can lead to work in both drinking water treatment and the environmental water field. The OTC graduation marked the completion of the fifth Drinking Water Internship since the program launched in 2017.
Environmental Water Program
Indigenous communities across Canada are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and the impacts of climate change, mining, and food source and water contamination. In partnership with these communities, Water First designs training programs that not only build technical skills but also strengthen capacities for long-term, independent management of fish and water resources.
The Environmental Water Program supports community priorities through project-based training, visiting more than 10 communities in 2023-2024 to encourage and support Indigenous communities in achieving sustainable environmental water resource management.
And now, with the introduction of the new Environmental Water Internship, the program offers even more pathways for training and education to nurture the next generation of water protectors.
Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation:
A Long-Term Partnership With a Sustainable Ending
Nowhere is the success of the Environmental Water Program more evident than in Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation (SIFN), a community that began a partnership with Water First in 2021. The Park Lake Lodge Project entailed monitoring the waters of Park Lake with a goal of running and maintaining a 100% Innu-owned tourism lodge. Two initial training workshops focused on soil and water management led to a three-and-ahalf year collaborative partnership, with Water First returning to SIFN to continue to build capacity and train members of the community in water quality, water treatment and climate monitoring.
Our work in SIFN will come to a close this year, as trained and skilled community members begin to work in conjunction with researchers that will continue to move monitoring programs forward for the long-term. Together we implemented programming that gave young community members the confidence to pursue careers, additional training, education and a desire to invest in other opportunities to strengthen and support their own community.
“The biggest benefit for Sagamok in the partnership between Water First and the North Shore Tribal Council is that these programs can assist communities and build capacity within the community.
Right now, the environmental water interns are building skills that are a real benefit to the community and being able to support the work that we do.”
