• Financial barriers in the case of Status Indians due to insufficient funding provided through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Post-secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), and for Non-Status and Métis students who are not eligible for the PSSP and must rely on their own resources or student loans;
• Geographic barriers because many Aboriginal learners must relocate to urban areas to pursue post­ secondary studies;
• Cultural barriers because Aboriginal perspectives, traditions, and values and the differences in learning styles of Aboriginal students are not typically reflected in post-secondary institutions;
• Individual and personal barriers faced by students who experience a sense of powerlessness, poor self-concept or motivation, poor health, or frustration, which is exacerbated when students do not have sufficient family or institutional support.

It is important to note that there are two very distinct types of Aboriginal post-secondary institutions: the provincially-supported institutions and the Aboriginal-controlled institutions.

Provincially-supported institutions are supported by provincial policy and therefore have:

• the provincially recognized authority to grant certificates and diplomas;
• access to annual operating and special grant funding to support operations and special initiatives.

Among ACCC members, only two Aboriginal institutions in Canada have achieved provincial policy recognition in Canada, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) and Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT). These two institutes are an exception to the norm of Aboriginal-controlled institutions.

Aboriginal-controlled institutions are not supported by provincial policy and therefore, do not have provincially recognized authority to grant certificates and diplomas. This means that credentials that students acquire from Aboriginal institutions do not have the same currency and portability as mainstream institutions. In addition, Aboriginal institutions in this system are not eligible for annualized operational grant funding like mainstream institutions.

3. Aboriginal Services and Programs at Colleges and Institutes

Colleges and institutes were asked to identify and describe the types of advising, counselling and support services and education and training programs they are currently offering. This was not for the purpose of conducting an exhaustive inventory of all Aboriginal programs and services offered at colleges and institutes but rather as a means to profile and characterize the types of services and programs offered with a view to demonstrating how colleges and institutes are helping to increase Aboriginal learners’ access to post-secondary education and labour market participation, as well as contribute to Aboriginal community development. This profile will also be used to develop a section of the ACCC website on Aboriginal Programs and Services which will then be linked to colleges and institutes websites, and wherever possible, Aboriginal web pages or sites.

Aboriginal Student Recruitment: Colleges and institutes view the approaches used for Aboriginal student recruitment as a very important first step which can be instrumental in helping students make informed decisions about the types of programs to choose, their readiness for post-secondary programs, the support services they can access at colleges and institutes to help them succeed, and the type of jobs their programs could lead them to. Colleges and institutes emphasized the need to begin recruitment efforts early in students’ high school years in order to instill motivation in students early on and ensure they obtain the prerequisites for the programs which interest them.