Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) is looking to hire a Program Manager for its Gladue Pathways to Healing Initiative, with applications due by July 21, 2026. The full-time term position will run until March 31, 2031, and can be based in Winnipeg or Thompson, Manitoba. The role reports to the Director of the First Nations Justice Strategy and will oversee the preparation of Gladue Reports and Healing and Wellness Plans for First Nation people involved in the justice system.
The successful applicant will need at least five years of progressive leadership experience in justice, Indigenous, or human services programs. MKO gives preference to qualified First Nation applicants and encourages self-declaration. The organization says only those chosen for further steps will be contacted.
Gladue Reports are produced to inform courts about the unique systemic and background factors that may have contributed to an Indigenous person’s involvement with the law. These factors can include the lasting effects of colonization, residential schools, and intergenerational trauma. For years, Manitoba has lacked a formal program dedicated to writing these reports. Instead, probation officers have included Gladue factors directly in pre-sentence reports.
MKO already runs the First Nations Justice Strategy, a court diversion program that offers culturally relevant alternatives to the mainstream justice system. The new Gladue Pathways initiative builds on that work to create healing-focused plans for individuals, reinforcing community-based supports.
This hiring comes after Canada released its first federal Indigenous Justice Strategy in March 2025, backed by $87 million over five years. The strategy aims to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, a crisis the federal government has called one of the country’s most pressing human rights challenges.
MKO, incorporated in 1981, represents 26 First Nations across Northern Manitoba. Grand Chief Garrison Settee, who was re-elected for a third term in August 2024, continues to lead the organization from Thompson.
