Anishinabek Educational Institute

The main campus of the Anishinabek Educational Institute (AEI) sits just outside North Bay on the Nipissing First Nation. The Munsee-Delaware campus is in Muncey and offers on-campus and community-based programs. 

Classes start with a morning circle, where students add items to the shared sacred bundle. There is a prayer for the community and the water, as well as a smudging with sweetgrass. Students are encouraged to introduce themselves in their native languages, include practices from their communities and wear traditional clothing such as ribbon skirts.

With a student body of under 100 per year, AEI offers intimate classes where instructors spend individual time with students. Each program incorporates Indigenous knowledge and cultural traditions. While many of AEI’s programs are accredited through other Ontario colleges, AEI is working on its own accreditation to expand course offerings in child care and mental-health studies. The college also hopes to offer degree programs.

In the fall of 2025, AEI will start offering a mental health and addiction worker program. Delivered in partnership with Canadore College, this program will provide students with training in mental health and addiction-specific settings.

To introduce traditional learning outside the classroom, the school launched Spring Medicine Camp in 2023. Students, staff and instructors are invited to attend the camp each spring at the Mattawa Ecology Centre, which includes workshops such as goose preparation and cooking, and medicine harvesting.

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Quick facts

School size:
Small

Tuition:
Diploma $2,700-6,300
Certificate $4,000-4,700

Residence offerings:
No

Popular Programs

Practical Nursing Diploma
Social Service Worker—Indigenous Knowledge Diploma
Binoojiinyag Kinoomaadwin—Early Childhood Education Diploma
First Nation Child Welfare Advocate
Native Community Worker—Traditional Healing Methods Diploma

Cool Options

First Nation Child Welfare Advocate: Students learn how to represent First Nations children and families in child protection matters in this certificate program.
Native Community Worker—Traditional Healing Methods: Students explore traditional ideas of physical and spiritual well-being. 
Binoojiinyag Kinoomaadwin—Early Childhood Education: Students learn to address culturally specific needs of First Nations communities and children.