Resources for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Community Members

Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team

For Inuit wishing to access COVID-19 assessment and testing, please contact Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team for an appointment. Services offered in Inuktitut and English.

Open 9:30 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday
24 Selkirk Street, Suite 300
Ottawa, K1L 0A4

613-740-0999

COVID-19 Testing Information and Video - Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team (English PDF - 214 KB)

COVID-19 Testing Information and Video - Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team (Inuktitut PDF - 123 KB)

For other testing centres in Ottawa and to book appointment:

Please visit our COVID-19 testing information web page.

Fact Sheets

• Assembly of First Nations: COVID-19 - Assembly of First Nations (English only)
• Cannabis use and COVID-19 - Assembly of First Nations
• Coronavirus fact sheet - Assembly of First Nations
• COVID-19 federal benefits access tool - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami 
• COVID-19 infographics - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami 
• Employee screening questionnaire - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)
• Elevator etiquette - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)
• Going out? Do it safely - Government of Canada (available in many Indigenous languages)
• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami: COVID-19 - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Respiratory etiquette (24" x 16" poster) - Tungasuvvingat Inuit (Bilingual in English and Inuktitut) 
• Social supports for First Nations families - Assembly of First Nations
• Tobacco use and COVID-19 - Assembly of First Nations
• What you need to know about COVID-19 - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)

Videos 

• Indigenous Services Canada
  • Keep it clean: Stop the spread of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities (English - also available in Mohawk, Michif, Mi'kmaq, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Stoney and Inuktitut)
• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (English and Inuktitut)
  • COVID-19 public health messaging
  • COVID-19: economic supports

• Indigenous Services Canada (available in many Indigenous languages)

  • View the GCIndigenous COVID-19 youTube channel for various videos.

Websites (General COVID-19 information and resources)

• Government of Nunavut
• Indigenous Services Canada
• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
• Métis Nation of Ontario
  • COVID-19 Support Programs
  • Ottawa Regional Métis Council /Email: contactus.ormc@gmail.com
• National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health 
• Native Women’s Association of Canada   
• Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition
• Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health
• Well Living House 

Resources 

• Fact sheet on food resources - Human Needs Task Force, City of Ottawa
• Take away meals available for people in need living in downtown Ottawa - Human Needs Task Force, City of Ottawa
• Grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking during COVID-19 webpage - Ottawa Public Health
• Shopping etiquette - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)

Infographics

• Provide for elders by dropping off food at the door - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Send one member of the household to get groceries. Keep kids at home - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktituk and English)
• Sharing the harvest during the pandemic - First Nations Health Authority (English only)
• Stay at home and get groceries once a week - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)

Mental health supports

Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team

• Mental health support available in Inuktitut and English for Inuit of all ages.

• Services: Psychotherapy (trauma and addictions), psychology, neuropsychology, psychiatry, MD supports.

• For more information, please contact us at 613-740-0999 or generalinfo@aifht.ca, or visit us at 24 Selkirk Street, Suite 300, Ottawa, ON, K1L 0A4 on Monday to Friday 10:30 am to 4 pm.

Counselling Connect

• Includes Indigenous in-person or phone counselling using Indigenous and Western approaches to healing.
• This service is for children, youth, adults and families in Ottawa and the surrounding area.

Distress Centre Ottawa and region 24/7 (English)

• Call: 613-238-3311

First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line 24/7 (Services & resources available in English, French, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut)

• Call: 1-855-242-3310, Live Chat, Posters

Kids Help Phone

• No judgment, totally private, 24/7
• Visit KidsHelpPhone.ca
• Call 1-800-668-6868 
• Text CONNECT to 686868

Mental Health Crisis Line (24 hours a day/7 days a week)

• Call: 613-722-6914 or if outside Ottawa toll-free at 1-866-996-0991

Native Women's Association of Canada

• COVID-19 Elder Support - For First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls and gender-diverse peoples

Talk4Healing - For Indigenous women

• Call or text: 1-855-554-HEAL/Live Chat
• Services offered in English, Oji-Cree, Cree, Algonquin, Inuktitut, Mohawk, Oneida, Odawa, Potawatomi, Micmac, Black Foot, Anishinaabe, Moose Cree, Swampy Cree

Wabano

• Wabano Mental Wellness Team provides holistic and culturally relevant services to Indigenous individuals and families. 

Mental health resources

• Healing in pandemic times: Indigenous peoples, stigma and COVID-19: The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health and Northern Health have created this short animated video for Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences to draw attention to the ongoing issue of stigmatization experienced by Indigenous people in the health care system.
• AFN mental wellness resources - Assembly of First Nations (English only)
  • Mental wellness and COVID-19: Tips and considerations
• COVID-19: Resources for Indigenous youth - Canadian Red Cross
• First Nations Health Authority
  • The impact of COVID-19 on mental health (Dr. Nel Wieman, video, English)
• First peoples wellness circle resources:
  • For community
  • For parents and children
  • For elders and seniors
  • For health professionals
• Mental health and COVID-19 - Ottawa Public Health  (English & French)

• National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health
  • Voices from the field - Supporting First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples mental health & well-being during COVId-19 (Dr. Chris Mushquash, podcast, English only)
• Thunderbird Partnership Foundation
  • Balancing work-life expectations during COVID-19
  • Harm reduction during COVID-19
  • Homelessness during COVID-19
  • Hope during COVID-19
  • Managing safe alcohol use during COVID-19
  • Managing withdrawal during COVID-19
  • Online resources for substance use disorders during COVID-19
  • Safe cannabis use during COVID-19
  • Staying connected to the culture without the sweat lodge during COVID-19
  • Stigma during COVID-19
  • Supporting youth and preventing boredom during COVID-19

Resources 

• How to support your child’s mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic - School Mental Health Ontario (English and French) 
• Keeping moms and babies safe during COVID-19 - Thunderbird Partnership Foundation (English only)
• Mental wellness during COVID-19 – For parents and children - First Peoples Wellness Circle (English only)
• Resources for those pregnant and parenting during COVID-19 webpage - Ottawa Public Health (English and French)

Fact Sheets  

• Ottawa's Health is in your hands - Ottawa Public Health (English and French)
• Reduce the spread of COVID-19. Wash your hands - Government of Canada (available in Inuktitut, Michif, Mi’kmaq, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree)
• Stop the spread of germs: Keep your hands clean - Ottawa Public Health (English and French)

• Indigenous language posters: “Wash your hands” - Artwork by Colleen Gray, available in 21 languages for download at the Art for Aid Project.

• Wash your hands - Government of Nunavut (Inuktitut and English)

If you or your family are in need of a cloth mask and you cannot afford one, the City’s Human Needs Task Force can help! If you live in Ottawa call 3-1-1 or email the HNTF@ottawa.ca to find out how to get one.

Resources and fact sheets

• By-law mask required poster with a heading in multiple languages, including Inuktitut is available to print and post in public spaces  (a bilingual version is also available) - Ottawa Public Health
• Masks web-page - Ottawa Public Health
• Mask required (24" x 16" poster) - Tungasuvvingat Inuit (Inuktitut and English)
• Practice physical distancing, wear a mask - Ottawa Public Health (English with Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif) 

• Safely wearing a cloth mask - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)

Posters

• Physical distancing (24" x 16" poster) - Tungasuvvingat Inuit (Inuktitut and English)
• Practice physical distancing, wear a mask - Ottawa Public Health (English with Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif) 
• Maintain physical distance from others - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Protect elders by staying away. Call or visit through the window instead - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Allow children to play only with children from within their own household - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)

Videos  

• Covid-19 what 2m looks like - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Physical distancing - Stop the spread of COVID-19 in Indigenous communities - Indigenous Services Canada (English, also available in Mohawk, Michif, Mi'kmaq, Ojibwe, Oji-Cree, Stoney and Inuktitut)

Please see Self-isolation instructions for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) web-page by Ottawa Public Health for information. 

Resources

• How to quarantine (self-isolate) at home when you may have been exposed to COVID-19 and have no symptoms - Government of Canada (Available in many Indigenous languages. Click on “please select language” on the right-hand side of the page to access the resource.)

• If you have been told to self-isolate, don’t leave home, and no visitors allowed - Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuktitut and English)
• Self-isolation handout for workers in health care facilities and institutions - Ottawa Public Health (Cree and Inuktitut)
• Tested for COVID-19, what now handout - Ottawa Public Health

• Grandpa’s Wisdom – An Algonquin Reflection on West Nile Virus and Lyme Disease by Albert Dumont (English, Algonquin, and French) (pdf 11 MB) - To purchase copies of this story please contact the author, Mr. Albert Dumont at turtlemoons13@yahoo.com. For more information, visit Albert Dumont website.
  

For information about West Nile Virus:

• Ottawa Public Health website
• Ottawa Public Health West Nile virus factsheet (pdf)

For information about Lyme Disease: 

• Ottawa Public Health website
• Ottawa Public Health Lyme disease factsheet (pdf)

Resources

• Be kind (24" x 16" poster) - Tungasuvvingat Inuit (Inuktitut and English)
• COVID-19 door signage for child care centres - Ottawa Public Health (Inuktitut and English)  
• Elevator etiquette - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)
• Employee screening questionnaire - Ottawa Public Health (Algonquin, Inuktitut and Michif)
• Mask required (24" x 16" poster) - Tungasuvvingat Inuit (Inuktitut and English)
• Self-isolation handout for workers in health care facilities and institutions - Ottawa Public Health (Cree and Inuktitut)
• Workplaces and businesses COVID-19 information webpage - Ottawa Public Health

COVID-19 Portal Pages

COVID-19 Somali Portal - Ottawa Public Health

COVID-19 Simplified Chinese Portal - Ottawa Public Health

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Awareness resources

• Languages chosen were based off of 2016 Census results. They are: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Punjabi, Tagalog, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Vietnamese, Korean, Tamil, Hindi, Cree (Plains Cree) and Ojibwe Eastern.