Welcome to the CASA CANADIENSE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (better known as Casa Canadiense or just as “Casa”).

Casa Canadiense – which translates as “Canada House” - is a Canada-Nicaragua partnership to support community development initiatives in Nicaragua. It is an entirely volunteer-run organization, with a centre and four staff in Managua, Nicaragua and a governing board and countless volunteers mainly based in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Casa Canadiense was founded in 1992 by a group of Canadian educators who were inspired by their contact with the Nicaraguan people during the 1980s.

Casa Canadiense is a continuation of that solidarity movement. Today, Casa continues to work towards a more just and equal world through solidarity with the Nicaraguan people.

Casa Canadiense exists to educate Canadians on world issues, through the microcosm of Nicaragua. Several high school groups a year are able to take a trip to Nicaragua in order to experience life in one of our Nicaraguan partner communities and better understand the hardships and joys of life in Nicaragua, the obstacles the country faces, the people that are its future and also explore wealth, poverty and inequality in a global and cross-cultural context.

Casa Canadiense also supports grassroots community development projects that are devised and overseen by local community leaders. These projects most often have an educational focus. They tend to be small infrastructure projects – like one room school houses – or training and professional development projects. Thousands of Canadians are also involved in this effort, through fundraising activities in Canada.

Our house in Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua is located in Barrio El Dorado, only blocks away from the Huembes market. The house is run by four staff, two of whom are Canadians. The house serves as a reception spot for Canadian delegations, as community meeting space, and as a reference point in Managua for Nicaraguans and foreigners who dream of a better world.

Casa Canadiense receives no government funding; we depend on the donations from our supporters and from our fundraising activities in Canada.