First Step: Collaborating with Indigenous Businesses and People – Certificate

Online Self Paced Course – 3 hours with 50 min. engaging film VOICES

Experience the groundbreaking VOICES documentary through an interactive course that explores how Canada’s colonial legacy continues to shape business, policy, and economic systems.

Developed by Muckpaloo Ipeelie, this learning experience combines education and reflection through a professional documentary film, background information, quizzes and a final test.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize how colonial policies shaped today’s business and government systems that have impacted Indigenous peoples

• Discover how to verify who Indigenous peoples 

• Learn where to find verified Indigenous businesses

• Build inclusive practices and communication styles that promote reconciliation

Participants receive a certificate of completion upon finishing the course.  

The Film, Voices: A Pathway to Indigenous Inclusion

Is a bold and timely documentary that explores how Canada’s colonial legacy continues to shape its institutions — especially in the worlds of business, policy, and economic development.

Synopsis

Not just powerful people, but everyday working Canadians are being challenged — even mandated — to forge paths toward Indigenous partnerships. Meanwhile, Indigenous Canadians are asking for time and patience — commodities that are often lacking amid today’s pressures and Canada’s history. Finding common ground remains the only way forward, both fundamentally and legally, in the workplace and in business.

Why This Film Was Created

The idea for Voices began with a conversation between Inuk advocate Muckpaloo Ipeelie and a business consultant who helped companies apply for federal government contracts, but she did now know where to start.

Many Canadian companies misunderstood or resisted the requirement, seeing it as confusing. At the same time, Muckpaloo was learning about the policy through seminars and research, discovering how little awareness existed about it’s importance.

Muckpaloo wanted to bring to light the importance of bridge building through the voices of other successful Indigenous business owners who pair personal experiences, with Canadian history.

Who You’ll Hear From

Voices featured a diverse group of Indigenous changemakers and entrepreneurs whose lived experiences offer valuable insight into the intersections of business, culture, leadership, and inclusion.

• Elder James Carpenter – An Anishinaabe Elder and Traditional Healer with roots in Collingwood, Ontario

• Jennifer Wabegijig – An Anishinaabe entrepreneur from Manitoulin Island and owner of Wild and Glorious

• Elder David Serkoak – A respected Inuk Elder who was forcibly relocated to the High Arctic as a child, educator, and cultural advocate from Ahiarmiut, Nunavut

• Muckpaloo Ipeelie – Inuk filmmaker and founder of Urban Inuit Identity Project Inc. from Iqaluit, Nunavut

The ‘Voices’ Film Success & Impact

Since its debut, Voices: A Pathway to Indigenous Inclusion has inspired hundreds of viewers across Ontario. Average rating: 5/5 in overall satisfaction and production quality.