At a new downtown Toronto bank tower, construction wraps up later this year on a meeting room that evokes local First Nations history in a space meant to welcome all visitors.

Indigenous architects designed the 11.7-metre-by-5.8-metre room in one of two towers of the new Bay Street headquarters of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, with furniture by First Nations artisans.

The project – like a new $134-million public library opening in Saskatoon in 2026 – signals growing interest in hiring Indigenous architects and opening doors to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.