Traditional Healing Navigator - HART Hub

Who We Are:

At the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle, community is at the heart of everything we do. We are a well established Indigenous-led and governed organization working across Simcoe County, Muskoka, and northern York Region to support the wellness of Indigenous people and communities.

We believe in working together—alongside community members, partners, and organizations—to listen, learn, and respond to what matters most. Our work is guided by values of self-determination, lifelong learning, and meaningful community participation.

We offer a variety of programs and services that reflect the strengths and needs of our communities, including supports for seniors, families, children, and those seeking wellness and healing. Through Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin (Everyone Helps), our Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Team, we bring together a wide range of supports—such as primary care integrated with Indigenous healing practice, midwifery, counselling, therapy, community addiction services, and land-based healing programming. Our services embrace the life span with compassionate care.

Besides the opportunity to work in a collaborative and supportive team-based environment, we offer HOOP as an excellent benefits package with enhanced days off to support employees (i.e., Christmas), including 5 days of Indigenous cultural training and a work environment that values & supports training and life-long learning.

About The Role:

This position is part of a team-based model of care that is accountable to the communities we serve. Work is grounded in the principle of Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands. It is located within a team-based model, where support and mentorship is provided and where collaboration and kindness are valued. In alignment with Indigenous and provincial standards, the organization upholds excellence in care, accountability, and compliance centred on Indigenous self-determination in health.

We look for a commitment to reflexive practices as part of ongoing professional development, including deepening the understanding of Indigenous histories and experiences.

This position is being posted in response to an existing vacancy at the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle.

The Traditional Healing Navigator supports Indigenous clients accessing the HART Hub by facilitating access to traditional healing and cultural wellness supports and by providing on-site, culturally grounded care and relational support as needed.

This role is both navigational and service oriented. The Traditional Healing Navigator works directly within the HART Hub environment to support clients during appointments, visits, and periods of increased need, while also coordinating access to traditional healing, ceremony, and community-based cultural supports. The role centers relationships, cultural safety, and client choice, and supports the integration of Indigenous wellness approaches alongside clinical and harm reduction services.

This role supports Traditional Healing through navigation and only independently provides traditional healing when skills and experience enable to offering of care. This role offers site cultural presence, grounding support, accompaniment, and continuity of care in alignment with Indigenous ways of healing.

ROLE RESPONSIBLITIES:

Traditional Wellness Coordination

Support the processes, policies, and staff understanding necessary for the integration of traditional medicines into clinical services and practices, as it relates to the philosophy of care.

Liaise with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and Traditional Healers to help align their guidance with clinical environments.

Coordinate logistics such as meeting scheduling, support needs, and safe transport of medicines or ceremonial materials.

Help with ceremonies, cultural events, and traditional wellness activities as assigned.

Support capacity building in cultural knowledge areas such as stages of life teachings and traditional medicines.

Traditional Healing Navigation

Support Indigenous clients to explore and access traditional healing, ceremony, and cultural wellness supports aligned with their needs and preferences.

Coordinate referrals, scheduling, and logistics related to traditional healing and cultural wellness supports.

Maintain respectful relationships with Traditional Healers, Elders, Knowledge Holders, and Indigenous cultural practitioners, as appropriate.

Support continuity between traditional healing, HART Hub services, and community-based supports.

On-Site Client Support

Provide on-site, relational support to Indigenous clients attending the HART Hub, including accompaniment, grounding, emotional support, and stabilization within role scope.

Support clients during appointments, care transitions, or moments of distress, in collaboration with the HART Hub team.

Assist clients in navigating the HART Hub environment in a way that supports safety, dignity, and choice.

Support de-escalation and stabilization using relational, trauma-informed approaches, in collaboration with clinical staff.

Team-Based Care and Coordination

Collaborate with HART Hub staff to support client care planning where traditional healing or cultural wellness supports are part of the plan.

Participate in case discussions and team meetings as appropriate to the role.

Communicate clearly with the care team regarding client needs, preferences, and follow-up related to traditional healing navigation.

Documentation and Program Support

Complete required documentation related to navigation and on-site support activities.

Follow privacy, consent, and Indigenous data governance expectations.

Support program learning and quality improvement related to access to traditional healing and cultural wellness within the HART Hub.

Other duties as assigned.

What You Bring:

Education and Experience

Experience in addictions, mental health, crisis response, or navigation roles.

Experience supporting Indigenous individuals in health, social service, harm reduction, or community-based settings.

Skills and Knowledge

Comfort providing on-site support to individuals experiencing substance use, mental health challenges, or distress.

Strong relational, communication, and boundary-setting skills.

Strong connection to Indigenous communities and understanding of Indigenous approaches to wellness and healing.

What We Offer:

Our work is accountable to Indigenous communities, guided by relationships, knowledge, and practices that shape how we serve and learn together. We work alongside community members, Indigenous organizations and the broader community to ensure our programs reflect the voices and strengths of those we serve.

Our full-time permanent employees enjoy:

Participation in HOOPP pension from day one with employer and employee contributions

Unlimited EFAP access for employees and eligible dependants

3 weeks' vacation

Yearly paid holiday closure

40 hours of cultural leave for ceremony and cultural learning

Paid sick time off

Fully employer paid group health benefits and insurance plans (after probationary period is achieved)

Recognize overtime hours

Supportive, culturally grounded work environment

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

Work is typically performed in BANAC clinics, offices and / or in community settings.

Regular travel to meetings and communities is required; access to a personal vehicle is required.

Reliable Vehicle – Regional Travel Required.

Regular overtime work may be required from time to time.

Low to moderate exposure to noise in the work environment.

Regular exposure to a moderate level of tension and anxiety due to deadlines, competing political pressures, and the competing needs and demands for limited resources.

BANAC work site locations are periodically exposed to smoke due to the burning of sacred medicines: tobacco, sweet grass, sage and / or cedar.

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