Expanding Opportunity for Indigenous Youth Across Rural BC 

The Fireweed Institute is creating new pathways for Indigenous youth to access education, skills training, and entrepreneurship through a mobile, community-based Maker Space. Supported by the Rideau Hall Foundation’s Catapult Canada grant, the project will travel across rural and remote First Nations in British Columbia, providing hands-on learning opportunities that empower youth to explore creativity, develop real-world skills, and build confidence as emerging entrepreneurs and leaders. 

Led by Indigenous Innovators, Grounded in Community 

The Mobile Maker Space brings mentorship, creative tools, and entrepreneurship training directly to Indigenous communities. Designed with and for youth aged 13 to 29, the mobile lab will visit Nations including shíshálh, Squamish, Tla’amin, Secwepemc, and Musqueam, offering workshops in business development, fabrication, and design. Each session will be co-developed with local partners to ensure it reflects community priorities and Indigenous knowledge systems. By combining creativity, entrepreneurship, and cultural learning, the project supports youth to imagine, design, and lead their own futures. 

“This funding will support a Mobile MakerSpace that will help increase equitable access to education, skills-training, and career development for Indigenous youth in rural BC. Through a mobile, community-based and community-first model, this project will provide access to creative tools, business training, and fabrication equipment in a safe, culturally grounded setting. This ensures that Indigenous youth, particularly those living in rural or under-resourced areas, can develop entrepreneurial skills without needing to leave their communities. This project aims to empower Indigenous youth to build real-world skills and develop entrepreneurial capacity,” says the Fireweed team. 

Meeting Youth Where They Are  

Across rural BC, Indigenous youth continue to face deep barriers to education and employment, including limited access to digital infrastructure, underfunded schools, and few local training opportunities. Many young people must travel long distances to access even basic skills programs, creating financial and emotional obstacles that limit participation. For youth in smaller Nations, the absence of dedicated creative or learning spaces means there are few avenues to develop practical skills or explore entrepreneurship close to home. 

Rural Indigenous communities are also places of innovation, cultural strength, and economic potential. The Mobile Maker Space responds directly to these realities, providing flexible, culturally grounded programming that meets youth where they are and supports them to build skills, confidence, and sustainable livelihoods. 

Expanding Indigenous Innovation with Support from the Rideau Hall Foundation 

Through support from the Rideau Hall Foundation’s Catapult Canada initiative, the Fireweed Institute is bringing the Mobile Maker Space project to life, delivering hands-on learning, entrepreneurship training, and creative skill-building directly to Indigenous youth in rural British Columbia. Catapult funding helps make it possible to equip the mobile unit, deliver workshops in partnership with local Nations, and employ Indigenous mentors and facilitators to guide youth learning on the ground. 

This support extends beyond funding. Through Catapult, Fireweed joins a national network of organizations working to remove barriers to education and create more inclusive, community-led models of learning.