A rendering of the new Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre. (Source: Andy Fillmore via Facebook)

The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre in Halifax is getting nearly $29 million in federal funding to help build a new space.

Halifax MP Andy Fillmore says that’s on top of the $4 million previously announced by Ottawa.

He says the money will help the centre better support more than 7,000 Indigenous clients living in the region.

“The new center will feature a large space for cultural activities and expression and events, an exterior ceremonial circle, archives, storage, classrooms, a Makerspace, interpretive center offices, administrative space, even an Indigenous health center,” Fillmore says. “And in tune with the Mi’kmaq worldview, it will be a net-zero carbon facility.”

Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre Executive Director Pam Glode-Desrochers calls the new space a big step toward reconciliation.

“Ensuring that our ever-expanding population has the resources necessary to address the intergenerational and systemic barriers we encounter on a daily basis has necessitated a broad expansion of our operations which has been insufficiently accommodated by our infrastructure to date,” Glode-Desrochers says in a news release. “The announcement today is an acknowledgement and a clear understanding that when we work together we can dramatically change the quality of life for Indigenous people.”

The centre currently delivers 55 programs, including early childhood education, housing support, language training, and harm reduction.

The new 70,000-square-foot building will be built downtown.