What Is Cultural Safety? Understanding What It Means to Feel Seen
- Kim Trottier
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Imagine walking into a doctor's office and feeling, before a single word is spoken, that you don't quite belong there.
The intake forms don't reflect your identity. The staff look past you, not at you. The language feels clinical and distant. You leave without saying what you came to say, not because you didn't want to, but because it didn't feel safe to.
This experience is not rare. For Indigenous peoples, racialized communities, and other equity-seeking groups, it is often the norm, not the exception. And it points to a gap that cultural awareness training alone cannot close.
So what does it mean to feel culturally safe? That is what this guide will explore. At Culturally Committed, cultural safety is the foundation of every training, workshop, and consulting engagement we offer. Understanding what cultural safety is, and what it is not, is the first step toward creating spaces where every person can fully participate.
Defining Cultural Safety: More Than Awareness
📌 Definition: What Is Cultural Safety? Cultural safety is an environment free from racism, discrimination, and cultural harm. It's a space where individuals feel respected, valued, and empowered to be their full selves. It goes beyond awareness, requiring institutions and practitioners to actively reflect on and change the power imbalances that cause harm. Cultural safety is defined by those who receive care or services, not by those who provide it. |
The term "cultural safety" was first developed in the late 1980s by Māori nurse scholar Irihapeti Ramsden in Aotearoa New Zealand. Ramsden recognized that nursing education was failing Māori patients, not because nurses lacked medical skill, but because the healthcare environment itself was shaped by colonial structures that made Māori people feel invisible, dismissed, and unsafe. Her work shifted the conversation from the individual practitioner's knowledge to the systemic conditions of care.
It's important to distinguish cultural safety from related terms that are often used interchangeably but mean something different:
Cultural Awareness is the first step: recognizing that differences exist. It is an educational foundation, but awareness alone does not change practice.
Cultural Sensitivity means acknowledging and respecting those differences. It signals good intentions but does not require structural change.
Cultural Competency refers to a set of skills or knowledge that a practitioner develops. It is practitioner-focused and implies a destination, a point at which someone becomes "competent."
Cultural Safety, by contrast, is outcome-focused and defined by the person receiving the service. There is no endpoint. It is measured not by what a practitioner knows, but by whether the person in their care feels respected, seen, and free from harm.
This distinction runs deep. An organization can offer cultural awareness training and still have Indigenous employees who feel they cannot bring their full identities to work. Cultural safety asks the harder question: does your environment genuinely allow people to be themselves?
If this way of thinking about safety is new to you, Teachings Tuesday, our weekly newsletter is a good place to keep exploring it one reflection at a time.
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Why Cultural Safety Is Essential for Indigenous Communities
Cultural safety did not emerge in a vacuum. It emerged in direct response to the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples navigating institutions (healthcare systems, schools, child welfare agencies, workplaces) that were designed without them in mind, and in many cases, designed to erase them.
In Canada, the legacy of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and ongoing systemic racism in healthcare continues to shape how Indigenous people experience institutions today. The trauma is not historical. It is present. Indigenous patients are more likely to experience dismissive care, misdiagnosis, and delayed treatment. Indigenous employees are more likely to face microaggressions, isolation, and cultural erasure in the workplace.
Indigenous people who do not feel culturally safe in healthcare settings often avoid seeking care altogether, a pattern documented across Indigenous health research in Canada (Turpel-Lafond, 2020). The result is not just personal suffering. It is a measurable, preventable health disparity. Cultural safety is therefore not a "nice to have." It is a health equity and human rights issue.
At Culturally Committed, our work is grounded in this understanding. We are committed to walking alongside Indigenous communities, not speaking for them, and supporting organizations in doing the same.
Cultural Safety in Practice: What It Looks Like
Cultural safety is not an abstract principle. It shows up, or fails to show up, in the details of how services are designed and delivered. Here's what it can look like across three key settings:
In Healthcare Settings
Patients are asked how they identify and what language they prefer, and those preferences are respected.
Traditional healing practices are acknowledged and, where possible, integrated alongside Western medicine.
Staff do not make assumptions about a patient's background, lifestyle, or family structure.
There are no performative symbols of "diversity" without genuine structural inclusion, no tokenism.
Complaint processes exist, are accessible, and are taken seriously.
In Workplaces
Hiring processes are designed to reduce bias: job postings use inclusive language, and outreach targets underrepresented communities.
Onboarding does not require new employees to assimilate; it invites them to bring their full identity.
Employees are not expected to be the sole "cultural educator" for their team.
Psychological safety is actively maintained: leaders model accountability, and harm is addressed, not minimized.
Indigenous employees are not asked to perform their culture for the benefit of non-Indigenous colleagues.
In Education
Curriculum reflects diverse histories, including Indigenous histories told from Indigenous perspectives.
Educators take responsibility for their own learning; they do not wait for students of colour to teach the class.
The physical and relational environment signals that all students belong.
Land acknowledgements are meaningful and connected to action, not ceremonial only.
The common thread across all of these examples is this: cultural safety lives in the structure itself, not bolted on as an afterthought. It requires ongoing evaluation, genuine consultation with affected communities, and a willingness to change when the evidence shows harm is occurring.
What Cultural Safety Is NOT
Because the term is increasingly common, it is also increasingly misused. Cultural safety is not:
A one-time training. Sending your team to a half-day workshop and calling the work done is not cultural safety. It is a starting point, at best, and a missed opportunity, at worst, if it creates a false sense of completion.
A compliance exercise. Meeting a regulatory requirement or checking a box on an accreditation form is not the same as creating genuine safety. Compliance culture and safety culture are often in tension.
The same as cultural competency. As described above, competency implies mastery; safety implies relationship and ongoing accountability. (For more on this distinction, see our post on Cultural Safety vs. Cultural Humility.)
The responsibility of marginalized employees. It is not the job of Indigenous staff, racialized employees, or people with disabilities to make their organizations safer for themselves. Cultural safety is a leadership responsibility.
A soft issue. Cultural safety directly shapes service outcomes, staff retention, legal exposure, and organizational reputation. Getting this right is both good practice and the right thing to do.
How Culturally Committed Supports Cultural Safety
Culturally Committed exists to help organizations move beyond good intentions into grounded, practical action. Our team brings lived experience, scholarly depth, and genuine relationships with the communities we serve.
Here's how we walk alongside organizations doing this work:
Cultural Safety Workshops: facilitated learning experiences for healthcare teams, school boards, corporate organizations, and government bodies. We meet you where you are and grow from there.
Organizational Consulting: we work with leadership teams to audit existing policies, identify structural barriers, and co-develop strategies for meaningful change.
Mentor-Led Training: our approach is rooted in relationship. Clients work directly with experienced mentors, including Kim Trottier and other specialists, who bring both personal and professional expertise to the work.
We believe that cultural safety is not a destination, it is a practice. And it is a practice that requires the right guides.
Ready to create a culturally safe environment? Connect with our team to explore what's possible for your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between cultural safety and cultural competency?
Cultural competency focuses on the skills and knowledge of the practitioner. It is practitioner-defined and implies a level of mastery. Cultural safety, by contrast, is defined by the person receiving the service. It asks whether that person feels respected, free from discrimination, and empowered to be themselves. One is about what you know; the other is about whether the person in your care feels safe.
Who developed the concept of cultural safety?
Cultural safety was developed by Māori nurse scholar Irihapeti Ramsden in Aotearoa New Zealand in the late 1980s. Her work grew from her observation that Māori patients were being harmed by a healthcare system that did not reflect or respect their culture, identity, or needs. Her framework has since been adapted globally, particularly in Indigenous health contexts in Canada and Australia.
Why is cultural safety important in healthcare?
When patients do not feel culturally safe, they are less likely to seek care, disclose symptoms honestly, or follow through with treatment. For Indigenous peoples, who carry the ongoing effects of colonial health policies, this avoidance can have life-threatening consequences. Cultural safety in healthcare directly shapes health equity outcomes, making it an ethical and clinical priority, not a peripheral concern.
How do you create a culturally safe workplace?
Creating a culturally safe workplace takes more than training. It takes structural change: reviewing hiring and onboarding practices, establishing clear accountability mechanisms for addressing harm, actively consulting with Indigenous and equity-seeking employees, and embedding cultural safety into leadership expectations. Organizations that do this work consistently see improvements in retention, trust, and performance.
You Can Create Something Better, and We Can Help
Cultural safety is not a trend. It is a response to documented harm and a proven framework for creating institutions that serve all people well. It asks more of us than awareness: it asks us to examine the structures we've inherited, the assumptions we carry, and the environments we are responsible for shaping.
Whether you work in healthcare, education, government, or the private sector, the question is the same: do the people you serve feel safe being fully themselves in your space?
If you're not sure, or if you know the answer needs work, Culturally Committed is here to help.
Join one of our monthly workshops, each one features a different guest speaker and teaching, and it's a genuine way to experience this learning alongside others.
Ready to commit to this work?
Explore Active Ally Membership, with our Professional Add-On available for those working in professional service environments.
Read next: Cultural Safety vs. Cultural Humility: What's the Difference?
Also explore: Decolonizing Language: The Words We Choose, and Why They Count
Turpel-Lafond, M. E. (2020). In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care (Summary Report). British Columbia Ministry of Health.
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