Building Cultural Understanding: Supporting Indigenous Employees Through Inclusive Benefits

June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada and it’s an opportunity for both reflection and action. Reconciliation in the workplace goes beyond statements and awareness campaigns - it involves ongoing learning, meaningful effort, and a commitment to creating environments where Indigenous employees feel genuinely respected, supported, and included. For HR leaders, this includes offering inclusive benefits, because when it comes to benefits plans, they can either support inclusion or unintentionally reinforce barriers. Employee needs are not one-size-fits-all and understanding how to support Indigenous employees creates a better workplace for all.

Understanding the gaps indigenous employees may experience

For many Indigenous employees, experiences with healthcare systems, workplaces, and institutions are shaped by a long history of colonialism, systemic inequities, and broken trust. These experiences do not exist only in the past; they continue to influence how safe, accessible, and supportive systems feel today. Intergenerational trauma, racism, and barriers to culturally appropriate care can all impact whether someone feels comfortable accessing support, even when benefits are technically available.

It’s also important to recognize that Western approaches to health and wellness do not reflect all cultural perspectives. For many Indigenous peoples, wellbeing is deeply connected to community, spirituality, land, identity, and cultural practices. Traditional healing, connection with Elders, ceremony, and holistic approaches to wellness may be just as important as clinical or medical support. When workplace benefits and wellness programs only recognize one definition of care, employees may feel unseen or unsupported. Expanding our definitions of wellness and care is therefore important. 

Psychological safety also plays an important role. Employees are more likely to access support when they feel respected, represented, and understood without fear of judgment or misunderstanding. That’s why cultural understanding matters. Inclusive workplaces are built not only through policies and coverage, but through listening, learning, representation, and a willingness to recognize that support may look different for different people. 

What inclusive benefits could look like in practice

Culturally Appropriate Mental Health Support

• Access to Indigenous counsellors or culturally informed practitioners

• Coverage that recognizes different healing approaches

• Trauma-informed support options

Traditional Healing & Cultural Practices

• Smudging allowances or support for ceremonial practices

• Coverage for Elders or traditional healers where possible

• Space and flexibility for cultural practices within the workplace

Flexible & Supportive Leave Policies

• Leave for community, ceremony, grief, or cultural obligations

• Recognition that family and community responsibilities may look different across cultures

• Flexible policies that prioritize humanity over rigid processes

Why communication and culture matter just as much as coverage

Employees need to feel safe using available resources. This is true for everyone, but especially true for cultures who have suffered historical harm, discrimination, or exclusion within healthcare systems, workplaces, and institutions. Trust cannot be assumed simply because support exists. If employees have previously felt unheard, misunderstood, or culturally unsafe in these environments, they may hesitate to access care even when benefits are available to them.

This is where leadership and workplace culture become especially important, because both strongly influence what benefits are offered and whether that support feels accessible, respectful and safe to use. Intentional consultation and thoughtful plan design are important first steps, but inclusion also requires ongoing listening, learning and relationship-building. Communicating what’s available in ways that are culturally appropriate and relevant matters just as much as the coverage itself. 

Representation matters too. Seeing Indigenous perspectives reflected in wellness conversations, leadership approaches, communication, and available resources can help employees feel recognized and valued rather than treated as an afterthought. For many Indigenous employees, wellbeing is deeply connected to identity, culture, family, community, and connection to land, meaning support systems should recognize the whole person rather than focusing only on clinical or transactional approaches to care.

No matter how much you invest in your plans or programs, benefits only matter if people understand and trust them. And ultimately, inclusion goes far beyond benefits; it needs to be reflected in everyday workplace practices, relationships and behaviours, not just policies.

Moving Beyond Performative Reconciliation

It is important to recognize that reconciliation is ongoing work; it’s not a checklist that can be crossed off and moved on from. We need to acknowledge that the hard work, the difficult conversations and the thoughtful actions might never be enough and they might never be over. But still, we keep going. 

Offering truly inclusive benefits is about recognizing and respecting lived experiences, and should be part of a broader commitment to equity and belonging. Listening to Indigenous employees and communities is essential for this work. Meaningful progress and intentional action is critical, and even small changes can have a meaningful impact on employee wellbeing and belonging. Thoughtful plan design is one way organizations can build workplaces where Indigenous employees feel genuinely supported, seen, and valued.