youth worker

wellness director

national specification manager

housing specialist

community associate

WABANO CENTRE FOR ABORIGINAL HEALTH

Wabano was a very hard place to work...There was a lot of pressure put on new workers to perform right away with little to no training provided. Workers were overworked, underpaid and have to put up with a lot of mistreatment from other coworkers. For a centre that really values its holistic/ Indigenous practices, values and morals it did not represent this at all. Wabano is so Colonized, it runs from a top-down perspective with little to no room for improvement or moving forward into higher paying jobs. 

Management at all levels in Wabano is in complete disarray and disfunction. Your mental health will be in complete shambles dealing with management and coworkers at this building; lateral violence was present at all levels at the Wabano Centre.

The coworkers range from completely toxic to really caring there is no in between. Being crammed into a tiny office with 4-6 other people is horribly unnecessary. The system works against clients, its hard to see them face so many barriers and to see how upset they get with such high turnover. 

Some major changes need to happen in order for employees and clients to feel comfortable. Preaching and practicing Aboriginal Culture from an Indigenous perspective takes a lot of patience and practice with employees representing these key qualities. Please be advised before taking a position here. Myself like many others have written poor reviews, please consider reading them before taking a position. "Wabano is like a revolving door" -its the saying that goes along with working here.

Wabano is a Centre of Excellence on Aboriginal Health and is highly acclaimed for its medical services.  I first heard about this organization while I was in University and was pleased to find a job here shortly after graduation!  I’ve been at Wabano for a little over two years now and have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.  I have been given a lot of responsibility and get to collaborate with other service providers in Ottawa to ensure members of our community have access to the care they need.  I’ve learned a lot about aboriginal culture.  There is lots of opportunity to participate in stories, ceremonies, and teachings.  And finally, I’ve made many lifelong friends here, including my manager.  I have grown professionally and personally at Wabano.

I feel I have to address some of the negative reviews here on Indeed as they do not reflect my experience with Wabano at all.  There was a time when a few employees tried to get a Union into Wabano.  It was a very stressful time as we were divided and there were a lot of hurtful interactions between staff.  This is not at all in line with our culture or Wabano as an organization.  Wabano promotes healthy relationships, healing and a place of belonging.  The Union was decertified a year later so no, we don’t have a Union here now and things have become much more balanced again.     

Wabano offers full time employees health and dental benefits and RRSP matching.  More importantly, we get to do real work that makes a difference in the lives of many people every day.  If you are nervous about working here, you can always volunteer and see if Wabano is a fit for you.    Miigwetch.

wow...from day one, consistent drama in my department. All but 2 are original staff from when I was hired, most are there less than a year. Most don't pass probation, the good ones don't stay. All 3 of the people that hired me a year ago have left, all were managers. Wabano is a revolving door. Lots of lateral violence....I was asked to write letters against co-workers. Complaints from clients were taken over seriously, there is no harmony or unity between staff and management. Many of the upper management are non native. The manager of the medical department is a non native and is absolutely terrible at her people skills and how she interacts with clients. Sure, the building is bright and beautiful and it attracts millions of dollars a year as a corporation does, but if those walls could talk! Clients suffer due to the ever change in staff, counselors, workers and managers and inconsistency. Just the ED has been there since Day 1. I got what I could out of it,  advanced my own personal goals and needs, then got out. Fortunately, I didn't rely on my position there to get by, personally or financially. Lots of folks do. And guess what? They don't want a homeless shelter next door?!??

When I came to Wabano I strongly believed Creator brought me there for a reason. But I now know that it was not to work there. Wabano states that it follows four direction teachings and circle teachings in all that it does. It states that it integrates culture into a healthcare setting. And it does. There are some wonderful beautiful people working for the good of the community who work there. There are also many negative aspects. Primarily in management, job environment, work/life balance and that the teachings are not included in the Organizational aspect of the Centre, which has caused it to rot from the inside. 

I have spoken to Elders who have stated they would never work there as a knowledge keepers, as they felt there was negative energy very much within the management. 

This Centre holds the future generations of urban indigenous people, and I do believe they could do much better for the community if they had a greater employee retention. You will go there, accepting a lower pay grade than you deserve, believing you are apart of a community health centre. You are not apart of their circle. They do not sit with you in it, as they are speaking behind the backs of those who are.

High turnover , poor working standards, abusive management. Worked at this place for several years was promoted throughout my time there and then wrongfully dismissed. This place does not hold the traditional values they claim to live by, by any standard. People are asked to lie about numbers by management and falsify reports as well as working outside of your contractual conditions. Wabano employs some good people and puts them in awful situations because said people are passionate about the community they serve. Dealing with the management and disfunction in the workplace was tougher than the job and clients. Serving the community is the best part of this place, but if you value your mental health stay away. The ED is an absolute nightmare text book sociopath outside of the building and in the public eye appears to be graceful and charming, verbally abuses staff and is condecending and micro manages the entire organization. "Centre of excellence" that's self proclaimed! It gets a gold star in promotion. This may seem like a disgruntled ex-employee rant and it sure reads that way, but apply and find out for yourself! Best of luck.

Work starts at 9 am. Morning is typically spent going over schedule for the week and looking over the calender. Meeting with clients in the community or in the office. I learned alot about the Indigenous community as there was many elder and guests that came into the office. Management is good. I had a manager that gave me a lot of flexibility to choose what I did with my day and when I met with clients and land lords. You are expected to show up to meetings and that sort of thing and to check in if there is delays or things change. Workplace culture was decent. I made  life long friends with a lot of the staff that I met. Hardest part of the job is that its social work and you are working in the vulnerable sector. The work itself is hard, the organization gives supports and benefits that assist in dealing with the effects of this work but ultimately its up to you if you want to use them. I enjoyed the free food, the activities outside of work volleyball team and baseball team. 

Seriously. There's nothing new I can add. The negative reviews are reflective of what it's like to work there. If you read a 4 or 5 star review its cuz management *urged* staff to write it. Seriously. They asked me. I cannot morally lie. Culture and some colleagues are lovely, they are the same people that will be gone in less than a year as they are the ones who are ethical, kind and can't tolerate the backstabbing. 
Seriously though, your work will give you loads of experience if you're starting your work-life and learn more about culture. So that's worth a few stars!
Be prepared to move on, or be left behind. Be prepared to work 11 days straight when events are on. They do not allow overtime so you take the time off when they say, if you're allowed and don't allow you to ask to be paid out which is against labour board. In my first 6 months, 12 people left and you will never get a 1.8%/inflation increase each year. in the past, anywhere from 3-8 people were crammed in one office. That has changed due to Covid, but still, be forewarned. 

An excellent idea for an organization with wonderful workers who have their hearts in the right place. Lots of cultural services and a strong sense of community from clients who access this centre. 

Unfortunately management creates a toxic and corrupt work environment which takes away from the wonderful programming and cultural services the organization has to offer. If there were a shift in management and coworkers began supporting one another and working more collaboratively, this would be the perfect place to work. Unfortunately there has to be a huge change in approach from management to start working towards employee recognition for their hard work and talents, positive feedback and supervisory support instead of running a fear based and results driven organization. I would recommend getting an outside perspective and other job experience before working here.

So I have been looking for jobs in our field with my Masters in Counselling Psychology and I knew that there had to be a reason I kept seeing ads for positions in this agency. I'm so happy I did my bit of research and see what sort of work place has been described or what I can gather from my search. It's honestly very sad to hear about a multicultural mental health agency is having such negative experiences with what seems like a completely toxic environment. Just as an observer I would ask that management have compassion and their employee's health and well-being at par with your clients. Clients should be treated with the up most respect and empathy. A work environment should be one of respect and transparency. I did not take 7 years of post-secondary education to walk into this kind of work place that is fighting over union matters.

I didn’t mind working at Wabano at first in my role. I do agree that I learned a lot and some of the people there are very nice. However, I learned very quick that it is very competitive to where others will put you down to get ahead. 
6 month probation and can extend it. Instead of over time you made lieu and within the department I was in it was very difficult to calculate it all. 
If your in college or university don’t expect Wabano to be helpful if you need time for exams… 
I wasn’t told that I was supposed to use my vehicle for client visits and I was mainly in my car all day and with very little mileage payback and when asked to pay more for inflation and gas prices it was always met with an absolute no. 
Again not a bad workplace but not for me after sometime it was to much. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Youth worker 1 salary reported	$48,000 per year
Wellness director 1 salary reported	$85,000 per year
National specification manager 1 salary reported	$77,500 per year
Housing specialist 1 salary reported	$50,000 per year
Community associate 1 salary reported	$50.00 per hour

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