Childhood arena dream becomes $32M community hub on Thunderchild First Nation

The road to completing it stretches back years and, according to Wapass, was shaped in part by Thunderchild’s response to the 2016 Husky oil spill.

Wapass said leadership faced a choice at the time: pursue Husky through the courts or try to build a working relationship with the company.

“We could have been like the other First Nations, and said, ‘No, we’re going to take you to court, Husky, or we’re going to create a partnership, a relationship, one that we feel that would be beneficial in going forward,’” Wapass said.

Thunderchild First Nation Chief Delbert Wapass delivers remarks during a ceremony marking the completion of the Thunderchild Wellness Centre on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Thunderchild chose partnership, he said, and members became vendors involved in the river cleanup. Work was also opened to people from other First Nations.

“It wasn’t only about Thunderchild.”

Wapass said Husky Energy committed $6 million toward the wellness centre in July 2018 and helped Thunderchild connect with the provincial and federal governments.

He said Ottawa committed $13.5 million and Saskatchewan committed $4.5 million, bringing the initial funding to $24 million.

But more money was needed.

Wapass said when he and council returned in 2022, the facility was $8.6 million short of what was needed to get it close to fully built.

“That wouldn’t have been without the help of the province, Cenovus, and the federal government,” Wapass said.

The result goes well beyond the arena Wapass remembers wishing for as a child.

The centre includes an NHL-sized ice surface with 1,080 seats, a full-size fieldhouse that can accommodate volleyball, badminton, basketball and pickleball, an indoor running track, fitness facilities and a child-minding centre. It also has event and meeting spaces and a dental office.

(Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

(Image Credit: Recreation Excellence)

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said the combination of recreation, health and community services reflects the focus Wapass placed on children and youth when he first spoke to her about the project.

“It’s really a place where people can come, and it’s a one-stop for everything that you need to be sure that you’re growing up happy and healthy in the community,” Gull-Masty said.

She said the centre also reflects a broader direction she wants to see – First Nations increasingly having the capacity to serve their own members.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Gull-Masty said Indigenous Services Canada has a role in supporting communities, but resilience and economic development also mean communities taking ownership of that space.

“And I think my mandate is one where I should be working myself out of a job. My department should not exist. It should be communities delivering in this place,” she said.

“So economic development and capacity development are two of the things that I really believe in.”

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty tours the Thunderchild Wellness Centre following a ceremony marking the facility’s completion on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty, left, speaks with Thunderchild First Nation Chief Delbert Wapass during a visit to the Thunderchild Wellness Centre on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung)

The centre’s influence has already extended beyond Thunderchild.

Saskatchewan Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison said Thunderchild’s project became a model for Meadow Lake after that community’s arena burned down.

“The very first discussion I had with our leadership in Meadow Lake is, we need to copy exactly what Thunderchild did, and we did,” Harrison said.

He said the core of the Meadow Lake facility is a direct copy of what Thunderchild pioneered with its wellness centre.

Harrison and Gull-Masty also indicated Friday that the provincial and federal governments are partnering on a new road into Thunderchild, though neither provided a cost, timeline or other details. Harrison noted the project has not yet been formally announced.

For Wapass, Friday’s celebration came back to what Thunderchild had accomplished together.

“Look at what you got. Your prayers were answered,” he told those gathered.

“This is what happens when a community works together. When we come together, we can do great things.”

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

Childhood arena dream becomes $32M community hub on Thunderchild First Nation

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