Indigenous Socioeconomic Wellbeing
The Research Group on Human Capital will hold its eighth workshop on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Multiple academic researchers from the social sciences will present recent work. The presentations primarily feature empirical research using microeconometric models, with a particular emphasis on questions of identification of causal effects. The workshop is intended to promote discussion and exchanges on the theme of Indigenous socioeconomic wellbeing. The workshop is open not only to academics (professors, researchers, graduate students), but also to administrators and policymakers as well as to officials from governmental institutions with an interest in the topic.
The workshop will take place at the University of Quebec in Montreal, building Président-Kennedy, 201 Président-Kennedy Avenue (Place-des-Arts metro station), room PK-1140, from 9:00 AM to 4:10 PM.
Registration (including lunch) is free but mandatory.
Schedule
8:30 AM to 9:00 AM – Registration, coffee and pastries served
9:00 AM to 9:10 AM – Opening remarks: Marie Connolly, ESG UQAM
9:10 AM to 9:50 AM – Catherine Haeck, ESG UQAM: The Great Mobility Puzzle Resolved (with Marie Connolly)
9:50 AM to 10:30 AM – Noah Spencer, Wilfrid Laurier University: Neighbourhood effects and education policy in Indigenous communities
10:30 AM to 10:50 AM – Coffee break
10:50 AM to 11:30 PM – Rob Gillezeau, University of Toronto: Uncertain Title (with Maggie Jones, Deaglan Jakob and Yue Yu)
11:30 AM to 12:10 PM – Randall Akee, Harvard University: Tribal Casinos, Economic Success, and Intergenerational Mobility
12:10 PM to 1:00 PM – Lunch
1:00 PM to 1:40 PM – Anya Hageman, Queen’s University: Indigenous socioeconomic wellbeing in the broader Canadian context
1:40 PM to 2:20 PM – Donn Feir, University of Victoria: The Sources and Consequences of Indigenous Overrepresentation in British Columbia’s Child Welfare System (with Alexia Olaizola, Susanne Thiessen and Keddy Wright)
2:20 PM to 2:40 PM – Coffee break
2:40 PM to 3:20 PM – Virginie Martin, Université Laval: The Effects of Opening Indigenous University Programs on the Education Level of Indigenous Youth (with Catherine Michaud-Leclerc)
3:20 PM to 4:00 PM – Angela Daley, Independent Economic Consultant: Evaluating policies to improve food affordability, nutrition and food security in remote communities in Northern Canada (with Tracey Galloway, Nicholas Li and Barry Watson)
4:00 PM to 4:10 PM – General discussion and closing remarks: Philip Merrigan, ESG UQAM
4:10 PM to 5:30 PM – Reception on the premises
6:00 PM – Conference dinner (by invitation only)
The organizers, Marie Connolly and Catherine Haeck, wish to thank the FRQSC, ESG UQAM, CIRANO, and the Quebec Interuniversity Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS) for their support.
Workshop participants are encouraged to stay at the hotel Zéro 1, 1 blvd. René-Lévesque E, Montreal.