Our Partners

Waichay Friendship Centre

The Wachiay Friendship Centre is a non-profit society whose mandate is to provide services and supports to the urban Indigenous population in the Comox Valley Regional District.  Wachiay is an inclusive organization and our programming is open to people of all ethnicities.

Wachiay delivers more than 50 programs and services to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.  The Centre employs a staff of 16-20, including full time, part time and contract positions.  Programs and services are delivered on site in our 12,000 square foot facility.


Purpose, Members and Clients:
Our purpose is to deliver programs and services that meet the needs of the more than 7000 urban dwelling, off-reserve Indigenous people living in our region.  Our service area includes the communities of Black Creek, Merville, Oyster River and Campbell River to the north, and Denman Island, Hornby Island, Royston, Union Bay, Fanny Bay, Bowser and Qualicum, to the south. Our local community includes Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland and K’omox First Nation.

This expanding catchment area includes an estimated Indigenous population in excess of 10,400, and a general population of over 100,000.  Based on 2011 census data, the population of the Comox Valley Regional District is 63,538, more than double that of Campbell River, and approximately 43% of the Nanaimo Regional District’s population of 146,574.

Wachiay’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients and membership include individuals and families that range from homeless, unemployed and under-employed living with poverty issues, to low income earners who are struggling from month to month.  For many, their primary focus is basic survival.  This is the demographic we serve.  Poverty is not specific to one ethnicity and accordingly our services are available to all people in need.  We recorded approximately 12,200 point-of-service contacts in 2014.