More Than 450 IDs Issued at NCN’s Two-Day ID Fair – A Huge Step Forward for Our Members!
“I’m 40 years old, and this is my first picture ID ever! I can’t wait to go on the NCN bus!” one community member laughed as he walked out of the door, his smile said it all.
On April 14 and April 30, 2025, NCN hosted a two-day ID Fair that made a big difference in the lives of our members. Over 450 IDs were issued, thanks to the teamwork between NCN departments and visiting organizations who came together to help our people get the documents they need to access important services, jobs, and opportunities.
Bringing the Services to the People
We know how hard it can be to get to Thompson or Winnipeg to IDs like a birth certificate or status card. That’s why our Government Office brought the services right here to our community, with friendly and knowledgeable people who truly want to support our NCN Community.
Here’s who came to help:
- SEED Winnipeg – Birth Certificates
- MKO – Status Cards
- MPI – Manitoba Provincial ID
- CRA – Income Tax Support
- Service Canada – Social Insurance Numbers (SIN)
- Social Assistance Team
- Kelly Spence, Trust Office Supervisor – assisted as a guarantor
Helping Our Youth
Service Canada and CRA did incredible work, especially for our NCN youth. With the help of Natalie Tays, Vice Principal of NNOC High School, students who needed SINs or help with taxes were guided through the process. Many youth were excited, joking about how they could finally get jobs and buy things, expensive things. More importantly, they were happy to now be eligible to work!
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) went a step further, recognizing the need in our community, they offered to return to train NCN members to do taxes locally. This will help us support one another even more in the future, a date will be set for the training session.
Respect and Kindness on Full Display
MKO was especially busy helping nearly 200 people apply for or renew their Status Cards. The MKO team patiently guided everyone through the paperwork, took ID photos, and for those unable to apply right away, they offered clear instructions on next steps. They encouraged our NCN Community Members to visit the Thompson office for further help.
What truly stood out was the respect shown to our elders. Our Community members in line agreed right away to let elders go first. Most of our Community members helped our elders to fill out forms and walked them to the front of the line, a powerful reminder of our values, culture and traditions in action.
SEED Makes It Easy to Smile
The SEED team brought energy, kindness, and a lot of laughs. With three amazing representatives, they helped people apply for free birth certificates. One shy student who spoke softly ended up laughing and joking with the staff by the end of her application. Their warm approach helped ease nerves and make the whole process enjoyable for the whole NCN community.
A Community Effort Worth Celebrating
Behind the scenes, people like Kelly Spence played an important role by acting as a guarantor to help complete applications. Thanks to this collaborative effort, more than 400 NCN members were able to secure IDs that will open doors to employment, travel, health services, banking, and more.
One member shared, “This helped so many of us. Trying to get to Thompson and figure out where to go for each ID is so stressful. This made it easy.”
Thank You to Everyone Involved
We want to give a huge thank you to all our partners, presenters, and departments who made this possible. Your efforts helped empower our people, especially our youth and elders.
When we come together to support each other, amazing things happen.
