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Solution

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside struggles with a toxic combination of high unemployment and high drop out rates.

It is our mission at CANCAT to help change these statistics for good:

Unemployment

The East Side has the highest rate of unemployment at 12%, which is double the city of Vancouver’s overall unemployment rate; 67% of people are low-income and live under the poverty line with a median household income of $13,691.

Child Poverty Rate

BC has had the highest child poverty rate of any province for eight consecutive years and the national poverty rate for First Nations children under the age of six living off reserve is 40%.

High School Drop-Out

High school graduation rates for aboriginal students was 32.1% in 2011; graduation rates for non-aboriginal students was 82.5% during the same period.

High Risk Students

The East Side of Vancouver has the largest population of high risk urban aboriginal students; the greatest dropout period occurs in grade 7-9.

Correctional Services

About 75% of aboriginal adults involved in correctional services did not complete their high school education.

CANCAT exists to inspire and empower marginalized youth and adults in Vancouver, focusing on those living on the East Side. This is achieved by creating a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment. We envision a creative and innovative space where disenfranchised people feel a sense of belonging and are treated with dignity and respect by their mentors and educators.

Currently there are Centers for Arts + Technology in eleven U.S. cities and one in Akko, Israel. These centers are based on the Manchester Bidwell Education Model, pioneered by MacArthur Genius Award Recipient Bill Strickland and operated successfully for over 50 years. This unique educational model has increased high school graduation rates among at-risk youth and provided career training that has led to employment for unemployed and underemployed adults. Vancouver could be the 10th city and 1st in Canada, where this proven education model is replicated.

Honorable Gregor Robertson, former Mayor of Vancouver, welcomed the establishment of CANCAT

as he noted that public high schools in 11 other cities that had partnered with the proposed program “have recorded improved attendance, behavior, grade-to-grade transition and on-time graduation for students.” Mayor Robertson also noted that the CANCAT adult training program “aligns with the City’s Economic Action Strategy, which places a focus on growing the creative sector, matching job openings with skilled workers, and generating living wage jobs in Vancouver.”

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