The North East Native Advancing Society (NENAS) was incorporated under the Society Act in 1990 as a coordinating group under the North East Aboriginal Management Board working in collaboration with Human Resources Development Canada.  As programming evolved, the Society adapted in 1996 to become a Regional Bilateral Agreement holder, and again in 1999 to emerge as an Aboriginal Human Resource Development Agreement (AHRDA) holder.  

We have evolved in order to obtain greater flexibility in the development of programs to meet the needs of our clients and communities.  In the fall of 2000, NENAS became a registered Private Post Secondary Institute with the Private Post Secondary Commission of British Columbia.  In June of 2005, NENAS became a registered Charity under the guidelines of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

The society has been actively involved in program development and management since its incorporation.  Overall, NENAS which began as an advisory board for Employment and Immigration thirteen years ago has developed successful mechanisms for the direct delivery of training and employment services.  As such, we have achieved distinction amongst our regional counterparts for returning clients to work and generating savings to Social Assistance and Employment Insurance Benefits.

Our long-term goal is to establish an institute for Aboriginal Leadership and Innovation.  This centre will be an extension of the community and will provide local Aboriginal focused certified training to the northeast BC region.

The AHRDA agreement will sunset on March 31, 2009.  We are currently in negotiations for the continued delivery of labour market programming for the First Nations Status, Non-status and Inuit people in northeast British Columbia.