The Hudson’s Bay Foundation and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund have launched the Oshki Wupoowane/The Blanket Fund to support Indigenous cultural, artistic and educational activities in Canada. All net proceeds from the sale of all HBC point blankets will go to the new fund. In addition, Hudson’s Bay is making a $1mn contribution to kick off the fund.

For Hudson’s Bay, forming the fund is another act of reconciliation to Canada’s First Nations. The 352-year-old Hudson’s Bay played a major role in the white colonization of Canada and the exploitation of indigenous peoples through the company’s fur-trading activities centuries ago.

The Hudson’s Bay Foundation is committed to raising $30mn over 10 years to accelerate racial equity in Indigenous communities across Canada, and last April, HBC donated its six-level, 655,000sq ft (58.000m²) former flagship in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which will transform the historic building into a mixed-use site for affordable housing; a health clinic; a child care center; a museum, and a living art gallery where the First Nations community will tell their story.