Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon

CAAN is committed to addressing the issues of HIV within an Indigenous context. CAAN provides a national forum for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples to holistically address HIV/AIDS, HCV, STBBI, TB, mental health, aging and related co-morbidities.
Our goal is to build a passionate, skilled, and diverse team made up of many cultures, gender expressions, and lived experience, all working together in the framework of Indigenous worldviews and traditions.

Wapiwin Akinê (Seeing Collectively): Strategic Visioning

A leadership council was established to guide this strategic visioning process. The leadership council met for the first time at a visioning retreat in Fall 2023 in Canmore, Alberta and created the following video, speaking to the value of visioning through ceremony. On December 1, 2023, CAAN launched Wapiwin Akinê to coincide with World AIDS Day and Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week. Wapiwin Akinê is supported by the Canadian Red Cross Society through the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund. Read more here


Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon

Featured Projects

Since 1997, CAAN has been proud to serve the Indigenous people of this land with many programs and projects – marrying tradition, ceremony, and best practices into tools that can help our communities heal and thrive. 

4 Directions Hub

4 Directions Hub

The 4 Directions Hub at CAAN provides meaningful stakeholder dialogue by collaborating with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities to guide appropriate and culturally relevant engagement when it comes to matters surrounding HIV, HCV, STBBI and Harm Reduction.

International Indigenous Working Group On HIV & AIDS

International Indigenous Working Group On HIV & AIDS

IIWGHA’s mission is to create an international voice and structure that links Indigenous peoples with their Indigenous leadership, varying levels of governments, AIDS service organizations, cooperatives, and others in a global collective action to lower the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS experienced by Indigenous peoples.


Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon

One Vision, Many Paths: Indigenous Solutions for Tuberculosis & HIV

For Indigenous people across Canada, tuberculosis (TB) is not a thing of the past. InOne Vision, Many Paths, we uncover why that is – and what’s being done about it.

Every Friday starting March 3, 2023, stay tuned for our four-part podcast series. Host Jen Quesnel speaks with some of the nation’s foremost Indigenous policy makers, nurses, researchers and community organizers on the front lines of the TB response.

Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcast and Amazon Music.

See our episode list


Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon

Featured Research

CAAN’s research agenda is driven by our membership of Indigenous people living with HIV and AIDS (IPHAs), Indigenous people living with hepatitis C (IPHCs) and Indigenous-led service organizations.

The AHA Centre

The AHA Centre

The AHA Centre is a national, Indigenous-led collaborative research centre housed at the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN). Funded by The Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2012, The AHA Centre supports HIV and AIDS Community-Based research (CBR) conducted in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada.

Weaving Our Wisdoms

Weaving Our Wisdoms

Weaving our Wisdoms (WoW) is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder initiative that supports Indigenous people living with HIV and AIDS by supporting connections to land-based teachings delivered by HIV Olders: Indigenous people living with HIV and AIDS (IPHAs) who have lived long term with HIV and are considered knowledge holders who have wisdom and experience to support HIV wellness for other IPHA

Drum & Sash

Drum & Sash

The DRUM & SASH project is a CIHR funded study which aims to develop, implement and evaluate shared care models to increase care and prevention of HIV, Hepatitis C, other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) and related mental health issues in Indigenous communities in Alberta.

Our Most Popular Resources

Fireside Chats Virtual Series

The Fireside Chats series serves as a monthly opportunity to share and discuss different research projects focusing on Indigenous women and HIV in Canada, and to provide capacity-building opportunities.

Learn more

Promising Practices Documentaries

These documentaries are part of an award-winning series of three stand-alone films, called Promising Practices. These films highlight how Indigenous communities in Canada are utilizing harm reduction with cultural practices and evidence-based methods enhance health outcomes.

Learn more

Journal of Indigenous HIV Research

The JIHR is an annual on-line journal published by CAAN as a service to its members and anyone with an interest in Indigenous community-based research (CBR).

Learn more

9 Genders Campfire Talk

The Nine Genders teaching came through the offering of tobacco. As we were sitting by a sacred fire, like the one in the slide before this one, a young man was giving me cigarettes and through these offerings the ancestors answered him using my voice.

Learn more


Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon

Become a
CAAN Member

CAAN: Become a CAAN Member

Support
Our Work

CAAN: Support Our Work

Get in
Touch

CAAN: Get in Touch

Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Ribbon