The head of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) says the organization is working with a “skeleton crew” since federal funding has been scaled back and donations from a UK-based organization failed to materialize.
“It’s been a very difficult cash flow situation,” said CEO Keith Henry.
ITAC is a national organization which aims to market and financially support Indigenous businesses and tourism experiences, according to its website. This is done through accreditation programs, grant services, and a membership system.
During the pandemic, it received just shy of $20 million to help keep Indigenous tourism businesses afloat during the lockdown, according to Canada’s grants and contributions page.
But post-pandemic funding has dropped.
“I just really am disappointed,” Henry said. “We’ve just seen decreasing investments for Indigenous tourism, substantially, over the last three, four years. And so we’re trying to continue to encourage Canada, through its various federal departments, to make sure that they invest in tourism as they once did, because we’ve never seen such a coordination of a perfect storm, like we have right now.”
The financial issues facing ITAC weren’t known to Indigenous entrepreneurs, Elders and Knowledge Keepers who participated in the International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC) in February, which was organized by ITAC.
The conference took place in Edmonton in February in collaboration with Indigenous Tourism Alberta and Explore Edmonton. It featured cultural displays, presentations and workshops from local Indigenous artists, vending tables and experiences organized by Indigenous-led businesses in the area, and was stocked full of networking and training for guests hailing from all over the world.
Although tickets were $1,925 per person and the event was regarded as a success by ITAC in press releases, Indigenous artists, performers, vendors, and businesses complained that it took months to get paid for their work while others said they still haven’t been compensated.
The International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC) took place in Edmonton from Feb. 17 to 19. It featured several Indigenous-owned businesses from around the province. Photo: IITC on Facebook.
“I thought, it’s just not making sense,” said an Elder, who asked not to be named.
She hosted a workshop at the event. After a week had gone by and she still hadn’t been paid, she began emailing ITAC and co-hosts on when she was going to see a cheque.
While she had originally assumed it was just her who had been unpaid, she met a fellow participant and pulled him aside to ask them about payment and he said he hadn’t.
“The experience of just being let down,” the Elder added. “You would call this a small community, and people know each other, right? And you thought you built up relationships through those years that you were part of these groups and stuff, and came to find out that that wasn’t so at all.”
The Elder who spoke to APTN was one of eight event participants who were paid the week of April 13, almost two months after IITC took place. But while she signed the conference contract with ITAC, she ended up getting paid by Indigenous Tourism Alberta.
Prior to her payment, she had spoken about her experience on Facebook. She became one of many supported by a social media campaign led by an Indigenous-led business in Alberta, created to highlight those who had been facing the same issue.
Showing up for community
Nathan Rainy Chief said he had no plans on becoming a bill collector.
“Who wants that job?” asked the co-founder and CEO of 49 Design, an Indigenous clothing and lifestyle shop based out of Edmonton.
In addition to the conference, ITAC organized 19 Indigenous-led, optional tourism experiences for guests. These experiences gave visitors more of an up-close, hands-on taste of culture and art, alongside the main event.
49 Design orchestrated three of them. All three were sold out. In the end, Rainy Chief said his business was not reimbursed.
“So, 30 days pass and nothing, like no word from any level … as to what is happening. And so I think, ‘Okay, well, we’ll give them the extra week just to be kind and respectful,’” Rainy Chief said. “And again, that week went on and we were like, ‘Hey, we haven’t heard from you. Can you just please fill us in as to what’s happening?’
“We felt very slighted. We came as a community. The community showed up for tourism, now tourism needs to show up for the community, is how I put it. And I keep kind of trying to hammer that home with people, because it shows that there were all good intentions to come to this conference. But here we are, in this mess of non-payment for several individuals who were involved.”
On April 10, after several exchanges with ITAC and no payment in sight, 49 Design took to social media.
Posts on Facebook and Instagram were harsh and blunt, calling for accountability and transparency, as well as encouraging those who weren’t paid to come forward with proof and invoices.
“Others have shared the heartbreaking consequences of the lack of payment, including Elders,” the business wrote, in a statement posted to Facebook on April 13. “We put our name and our reputation behind this event because we believed in the vision.”
Once the posts went up, he said, several people came forward. Those who were involved with the conference included freelance writers, business grant recipients (who had yet to see their grant), and advocates who weren’t involved but wanted to help. People provided email chains revealing a familiar tale of several inquiries being met with delay or nothing at all.
“We’ve gotten so many emails, it’s insane,” he said.
“This event will definitely have a really dark hole with the community for a long time, and there’s going to be a lot of mistrust that comes out of this,” he said. “And I’m just surprised that these organizations are not finding a way to make public statements so that they can reassure the community that they have their best interests.”
Nathan Rainy Chief (pictured) is the owner of 49 Design. His business organized three different tourism experiences for the International Indigenous Tourism Conference in February. He remains unpaid. Photo: 49 Design on Facebook.
Rainy Chief’s posts caught the attention of Tracy Ridler, CEO of Centre for Native Nation Builders. Although the member of Kitsumkalum First Nation in B.C. considers herself an advocate and was not involved with IITC but said she knows many people on the board at ITAC.
Ridler called the conference “Indians on parade.”
“Everybody wants to rent a feather and put us on display, but then when the actual payment or fair treatment or respect comes, it’s just not there,” she said. “And that’s the really harmful, painful, disheartening piece of all of this.”
Aggravated, Ridler reached out to ITAC’S president and CEO, Keith Henry, over email and demanded answers on behalf of those still awaiting payment.
Although she wasn’t the first to try, she was the one who received a response.
Follow the money
ITAC’s last independent financial audit was published in 2024. At the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, it had just over $4 million in net assets and $3.9 million in liabilities.
In July 2025, Henry took to the podium at an event in Toronto to announce a new, seven-year financial commitment with the UK-based Passion Project Foundation.
According to Henry, the charitable foundation had committed to investing $245 million over seven years.
The money would be used in support of ITAC’S 2025-2026 operational plan to “fully rebuild the industry to pre-2018 levels,” according to its website.
According to its website, the foundation works in the U.K. to empower youth and encourage professional development through a “social and emotional learning centre of excellence that can inform policymakers across the world of the importance of emotional intelligence in creating wellness and building resilience.”
ITAC and the Passion Project have been in contact for two years, Henry added. When the foundation approached ITAC in 2024, the tourism organization had already started to make budget cuts and mitigate spending, and its current financial woes were already starting to creep into the picture.
“They approached us and said, ‘Hey, we’re very interested to see if we can help support you guys, and attract others, so you can find other sustainability opportunities,’” Henry said.
He said the charitable organization was seeking multiple partnerships outside of the United Kingdom with a special emphasis on Indigenous-based projects, for its “world heritage fund.”
“They see Indigenous tourism is a big part of that,” Henry said. “And so that’s why there was a connection, through some of their desire to expand into international spaces, their desire to help with bringing funding opportunities in a new way. So this all fell under sort of a strategy of theirs, under the world heritage fund.
“The problem is that the funding for the investment is still delayed.”
Henry also blamed several other factors for the delay, such as “the lack of investment and support from Canada.”
“I hate to say, but we’re the fourth iteration of an Indigenous tourism organization, and the last three all failed because there really wasn’t a sustainability model,” he said. “We’re in the exact same situation. This is history repeating itself, unfortunately.”
During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, ITAC received $12.8 million in funding from various federal departments, including Indigenous Services Canada, according to ITAC’S annual report.
ITAC had then received $6.9 million in 2024-2025, and $3.8 in 2025-2026. Henry added that the budget “ask” for both of those years had been $32.5 million.
The ITAC’s latest annual report doesn’t include an audit. According to Henry, it had to be reworked after the money from the Passion Project didn’t come through. Henry said he still believes it’s coming, but he doesn’t know when.
He said he understands why people are frustrated, regarding the late payments, but asks for patience.
“I’m so worried that… I don’t want to hurt ITAC in the long run. I hope people will be patient with us as we work our way through this,” he said. “It’s very difficult. I’ve got many people very frustrated, and, and I just said, everyone, just please, please be patient with us as we work our way through this. We are going to work our way through. We have a plan, unless that plan falls apart. We’re just asking for people’s patience a little bit longer.”
According to Henry, ITAC is in contact with the Passion Project Foundation “on a daily basis” to ensure the late funds will come through. He aims to have everyone who was involved with the conference paid by the end of April. There was no mention of outstanding grants or other freelance payments.
Although the International Indigenous Tourism Conference was regarded as a success, Nathan Rainy Chief, owner of 49 Design, said it will leave “a dark hole in the community” because of the way payment was handled after the fact. Photo: IITC on Facebook.
Unfortunate outcome
Ridler said much of the frustration comes from a lack of knowing.
“It’s just a matter of these big steps were missed, and now we’re trying to understand whether or not they knew this was happening,” she said. “This is just an unfortunate outcome. People need to understand when payment is coming and then decide to participate or not, and that choice was taken from them.”
Alongside immediate payment, Rainy Chief’s calls to action, which were posted on social media, include further public apology, exact payment dates, the possibility of a sharing circle amongst Elders or Knowledge Keepers who were impacted by the IITC, and “a public explanation of where the ticket sales for the conference went.”
Rainy Chief is also calling for a system to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again. He said the situation reminds him of broken promises from the government.
“We know how treaty turned out. We felt we’ve been let down in a big way, and it has left a hole,” he said. “For some people, this was their bread and butter, and to have this happen to them… I don’t know if they’ll come back. Or how they’re going to mend those relationships.”
Rainy Chief spoke with Melissa Radu, executive director of destination stewardship at Explore Edmonton, about a way to move forward. APTN contacted Explore Edmonton for an interview but did not receive a response before deadline.
APTN reached out to The Passion Project Foundation but no response has been received.
IITC is an annual event. The next edition is scheduled for Winnipeg.
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Tags: Alberta, British Columbia, cash flow, charitable organization, Funding, Government of Canada, Indigenous business, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, International Indigenous Tourism Conference, payments, Tourism
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