King Thunderbird Centre Opens
- Boyle Street Staff
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
okimaw peyesew kamik's four-year journey, made possible with your support
On December 15, 2021, we announced the Build with Boyle campaign - our plan to transition from our old community centre to a new, purpose-built facility. And now, on December 15, 2025, four years later, we are proud and excited to say that okimaw peyesew kamik (King Thunderbird Centre) is open!
We could not and did not do this alone - it was our community that made okimaw peyesew kamik possible. All aspects of our work are about building strong, healthy relationships: the relationships between those we serve and our staff, between our volunteers and those we serve, between our staff and our supporters, between us and our neighbours, between our partners. Like every story of success, Build with Boyle is a story about relationships.
Before our former community centre flooded the sixth time, we already knew we needed a new building. The Coop, as it was called, had been home to many of our programs and services since 1996. And after almost 30 years there, for many people Boyle Street was the Coop, and the Coop was Boyle Street.
But despite its comfortable familiarity, the Coop was not well suited for our work. Maintenance was significant, even without flooding, but other issues included accessibility, lack of natural light, and spaces that did not match the programs that they were operating in. We needed a building designed for what we do.
When we found a possible location - a 2.5-acre property only two blocks from the Coop - we approached the Oilers Entertainment Group. In September 2021, they purchased the site of the Coop for its appraised value of $5,000,000, and the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation (EOCF) donated $10,000,000 toward the cost of the new centre. The EOCF’s donation changed the trajectory of Boyle Street and helped launch Build with Boyle.
We publicly announced Build with Boyle on December 15, 2021. Immediately after this announcement, Pat and Diana Priestner reached out and donated to the campaign, providing another early boost to Build with Boyle.
On September 15, 2022, our development permit was approved by the City of Edmonton. At a Ford Hall event on November 1, 2022, we announced five new partners: Capital Power, Station Lands, The Brick, and The Stollery Charitable Foundation. With their support, we had met 75% of our fundraising goal without any government assistance.
At this same event we unveiled the name of the facility: okimaw peyesew kamik, which translates to King Thunderbird Centre. This nêhiyawêwin (Cree) name was gifted to us in ceremony by Elder Cliff Cardinal.
“I had the painstaking task of humbling myself and providing humility to the spirit world to ask for a grandfather to guide this new home,” Elder Cardinal shared. “And during that time, one grandfather came - on the third round - one stepped up … the thunderbird came down and blessed us and took that initiative to guide us to protect this home for millennia to come.”
On November 11, 2022, okimaw peyesew kamik’s building permit was revoked by the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB). Despite this setback, we committed to actively pursuing all avenues available to us in order to complete the project.
We re-applied, and received our development permit from the City of Edmonton on March 21, 2023. On June 15, 2023, the SDAB approved okimaw peyesew kamik’s development permit.
During that same summer, we publicly announced our new Interdisciplinary Model of Care. This model brings staff from multiple disciplines together into one space to form an interdisciplinary team that works collaboratively with the person seeking care to meet that person’s goals.
We have been operating this model across various sites since October, 2023, and have already seen excellent results, especially across the major domains of Housing Stability (+24%), Basic Needs (22%), and Substance Use (+19%).
okimaw peyesew kamik is designed around this model, and we are excited to see the Interdisciplinary Model of Care operate in a space designed around it.
The interdisciplinary model of care dens - askîy, nipîy, and asinîy - provide wraparound care (culture and ceremony, mental health and addiction supports, nursing, occupational therapy and social workers) to everyone they serve with a specialized team equipped with supports and services that match their needs.
The majority of those who will receive services at okimaw peyesew kamik require timely support to meet their immediate needs. These include housing referrals, ID services, system navigation, hygiene products, and other supports – which they will be able to find at itê ka-skinôh-tamâke (the place where people come for help). By streamlining our service offerings into a space designed to facilitate meeting those needs, individuals can receive the support they need and be on their way.
King Thunderbird Centre contains two dedicated cultural rooms: iskotêw (main floor) and okimaw peyesew (second floor). Access to spiritual care through culture and ceremony is fundamental to the healing journey for the Indigenous communities served by this world-class facility. The design of okimaw peyesew kamik was guided by Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in our community, reflective of those we serve, and honours Treaty Six Territory.
Chief Willie Littlechild says that okimaw peyesew kamik is an act of reconciliation:
“When I see fellow Indigenous people suffering today, ravaged by hopelessness and addiction, I draw a straight line back to how we were treated by colonial systems. When people talk about intergenerational trauma, this is what they mean. We cannot change the past. The harms that were committed on Indigenous peoples in Canada are a part of our story now. But together we can create a brighter future.
The creation of Boyle Street Community Service’s new King Thunderbird Centre, or okimaw peyesew kamik in Cree, is an act of reconciliation that helps to create that brighter future.”
On November 3, 2023, we held a Mother Earth ceremony at okimaw peyesew kamik to mark the beginning of the facility’s construction. Chief Greg Desjarlais and members of our Elders’ Council, Elders Cliff Cardinal and Crystal Arcand, led us in the ceremony, which asks Mother Earth forgiveness for disturbing her. Together, everyone in attendance laid tobacco on the spot of our sweat lodge, where okimaw peyesew kamik was gifted its name.
We were joined by Enbridge, who announced their donation to the campaign at the Mother Earth ceremony.
There was a seismic Build with Boyle development on May 3, 2024. Alongside the federal government, we announced that we had received a $21 million contribution through the Government of Canada’s Green and Inclusive Building (GICB) program. The enhancements made possible through this grant will reduce okimaw peyesew kamik’s energy consumption by 99% and its greenhouse gas emissions by 709 tonnes annually. They also greatly increased the building’s accessibility.
This grant was the result of considerable work by both our staff and the federal government, and we came together to ensure okimaw peyesew kamik is an accessible, sustainable, and beautiful building for those we serve.
Alongside accessibility and dignity, sustainability is critical for Boyle Street. That’s why we announced the Build with Boyle endowment fund on August 21, 2024. The goal of this fund is to build an endowment for okimaw peyesew kamik, ensuring the long-term health of the programs, services, and building operations at the building.
Our partners at EPCOR contributed matching funds, and thanks to public support, the endowment fund is healthy and strong. You can contribute to it here.
Construction continued at a furious pace. In April, 2025, we surpassed 50% completion at okimaw peyesew kamik.
Throughout the summer and autumn of 2025 construction was ongoing 20 hours a day. We are so grateful to our partners at Chandos Construction, Beljan Developments, Hiregood, and HSEA Architecture, whose hard work, attention to detail, and flexibility helped us get to where we are now - open and delivering services to Edmonton’s most vulnerable citizens.
Limited service delivery began on November 12, 2025. We gradually ramped up our operations as we acclimated to okimaw peyesew kamik. And while we will continue to adapt to the needs of those we serve, we officially cut the ribbon on December 15, 2025.
Build with Boyle was a success. okimaw peyesew kamik is a reality. And the work continues.
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