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Before they are even handed the keys to their new home on Cold Lake First Nation, Sara Piche and David Coker are standing in the backyard planning to extend the deck.
“We’ve been waiting for this a long time,” said Piche about finally having a house to call their own on the reserve.
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Housing is hard to come by on CLFN. There are only about 300 homes on the reserve, but there are 3,000 band members, and, as a result, Chief Roger Marten said a lot of people had to leave the reserve years ago, because there simply was no room .
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A new indigenous skills training program, to be offered by Portage College in the New Year, will teach up to 24 students basic home construction and maintenance skills in a six-month course that will be a part of a Cenovus housing initiative to build homes in six First Nations and Métis communities closest to Cenovus oil sands operations in northern Alberta.
The housing initiative, first announced in January, commits $10 million per year to build much-needed new houses, including on Cold Lake First Nation.
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