The Government of Ontario has announced a $4.4M investment to support aviation training at First Nations Technical Institute. The institute’s previous training centre was destroyed by a fire in 2022. The funding will be used to expand aviation training and rebuild FNTI’s aviation training centre, which will include a hangar complex with classrooms, briefing areas, and flight simulators. “This continues to be a place of learning,” said Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Chief R Donald Maracle, who emphasized the importance of investing in the Indigenous people of the land. In an interview with the Belleville Intelligencer, FNTI President Suzanne Katsi’tsiarihshion Brant also commented on ON’s recently announced funding model for Indigenous institutes, sharing that FNTI is hoping to increase enrolment to 1,000 students in the next five years. She explained that FNTI’s programs are currently oversubscribed and that the institute has needed more funding to be able to grow.
