Event Recap: Building Together: Indigenous Partnership and Equity in Canada's Major Projects

Ownership is becoming part of how major projects get built

Indigenous equity ownership is increasingly being built into the commercial structure of major projects. New partnership models mean First Nations have the opportunity to invest alongside project proponents, participate in governance and build long-term revenue streams tied to assets in their territories.

Ontario Power Generation's Darlington New Nuclear Project demonstrates one model. Seven Williams Treaties First Nations are investing $700 million in the first small modular reactor at a site planned for up to four units. Federal and provincial loan guarantee programs are supporting approximately $715 million in financing, and the transaction is structured to lead to a future minority ownership stake for the Nations.

The commercial agreement came after years of rights-based consultation. OPG made changes to the project in response to First Nations concerns before ownership was on the table. That willingness to adapt helped build the relationship that later made commercial participation possible.

That sequence matters. Ownership did not replace engagement. It grew from a relationship in which communities were already helping shape the project. For future projects, the lesson is less about copying one transaction than creating room for communities to participate early enough for ownership to become a credible next step.

Access to capital is changing what is possible

Equity opportunities only matter if communities can finance them. For investments measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, access to capital can determine whether Indigenous participation is meaningful or marginal.

Canada's $10-billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and provincial programs use government backing to improve access to financing for eligible Indigenous investments. Communities still identify the opportunity, retain their own advisers, conduct due diligence and decide whether the investment makes sense for them.

The longer-term objective is financial capacity. As communities build revenues, investment experience and a track record in major projects, the opportunity is to raise and deploy more capital on their own terms.

Procurement should leave Indigenous businesses stronger

Indigenous procurement is also evolving beyond just a question of how much money gets spent.

Targets remain useful for accountability, but spend alone does not show whether procurement is creating lasting economic capacity. A better test is what happens after the contract: whether an Indigenous business can hire more people, invest in equipment, build expertise, pursue larger contracts and compete for opportunities further up the value chain.

There are also practical barriers to address. Insurance and bonding requirements, oversized contracts, complex qualification processes and limited access to working capital can exclude otherwise capable suppliers. The goal is not to lower standards, but to remove unnecessary barriers to meeting them.

A successful contract should do more than meet a procurement target. It should improve a business's ability to win the next one.

LISTEN: How Indigenous Businesses Are Powering Canada’s Clean Energy Future with Tabatha Bull 

Major-project acceleration has to include community capacity

Faster approvals and meaningful Indigenous participation do not have to compete. But there is no single starting line.

Some communities have decades of experience negotiating agreements, investing in projects and working with industry. Others are preparing for development while still facing gaps in housing, water and wastewater infrastructure, broadband, training and administrative capacity.

The same principle applies to workforce development. Education and employment systems built around urban assumptions can become barriers themselves. Training may need to reach remote communities. Employers may need to rethink location requirements or workplace policies. Education pathways need to account for family and community responsibilities as well as the realities of communities without the infrastructure available in larger centres.

Compared with a year ago, the conversation has moved from principles toward working models. The next test is whether those models can scale while recognizing that communities do not all begin from the same place.

$10 billion

The size of Canada's Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which uses federal loan guarantees to support Indigenous equity investment in commercially viable projects.

$700 million

The Williams Treaties First Nations investment in Ontario Power Generation's Darlington New Nuclear Project. The transaction is supported by approximately $715 million in combined federal and provincial financing and is structured to lead to future minority ownership.

$250 million

Saugeen Ojibway Nation's investment in the expansion of its medical isotope partnership with Bruce Power, supported by a provincial financing guarantee.

51%

The collective ownership stake held by 24 First Nations in Wataynikaneyap Power, the transmission company that has connected remote First Nations in northwestern Ontario to the provincial electricity grid.

“Achieving a win-win solution means finding a mutually-beneficial balance: addressing project financing requirements for certainty, speed, and predictability – investability – matched to the interests of Indigenous communities to be active partners and participants.”
— Giles Gherson, President and CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade

“The Federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program provides a practical tool to support commercially viable opportunities. But the guarantee is only one piece. This also requires relationships, early engagement, transparency, and respect for Indigenous decision-making.”
— Kristan Straub, President and CEO, Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation

“I think the lesson is also to be bold and to think and see the vision of what you're seeing on the stage and how it came together actually become real. So consider that as you think about what the next decade or two look like.”
— Alena Thouin, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Building Ontario Fund 

“If you think about the Darlington New Nuclear Project, it's in construction right now. Once all four units are built, it will have a 60-year lifespan expected on it. So good odds I'm not going to be around at that point in time. So, we're creating a relationship here that will survive longer than most of the people that you see on stage at this point in time. And that's really important that we've cemented through this kind of equity ownership, that ongoing relationship. And I think all parties are committed to it being a long-term relationship.”
— James Brewer, Vice President, New Growth and Business Development, Ontario Power Generation

“You can't suppress the community's ability to participate. Because once you do that, you're going to lose the narrative of that community consent that's required, in my view, to do your project. So just I think there has to be, you know, the finish line can't always be the same, right? The timelines for regulatory approvals have to be adjustable to the pace of play and capacity that the communities have to do the things that need to be done to make them comfortable with projects in the land where they've occupied for generations.”
— Jason Batise, Executive Director, Waban Tribal Council

“Real impact comes from meaningful partnerships, grounded in participation and a real voice in decision making. Meaningful partnerships with Indigenous organizations and communities lead to stronger outcomes for people, for businesses, and for Canada.”
— Teresa Palandra, CEO, Marsh Canada and President, Marsh People and Investments, Canada

“And so the key lesson, I would say, if I had to summarize this, trust is built through transparency, consistency, and shared purpose. Strong partnerships happen when communities are informed, involved, and respected. And at the same time, through this partnership, we are contributing to the global fight against cancer.”
— Mike Chegahno, Director, Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin

“Procurement is more than a business process. This is a practical way to turn commitment into opportunities and relationships into meaningful economic participation. Done well, it creates lasting benefit for indigenous businesses, communities, and future generations.”
— Stéphanie Vaillancourt, President, Canada, AtkinsRéalis

“Targets matter because they create accountability, they create visibility. But if we focus only on spend and targets, we may end up turning indigenous procurement into a compliance exercise, a compliance requirement, which is not the goal we are pursuing. We want to be mindful and think about capability building. We think that if an opportunity is not allowing indigenous suppliers to invest in equipment or to invest in people, it's just a transaction. It's not economic reconciliation.”
— Annick Enguelle, Program Manager for Buy Canada and Procurement Equity, Alstom

“I think it's that relationships take time. Meaningful inclusion takes time. It takes commitment. You know, the companies have to be, large companies have to be prepared to spend time in the community, to get to know folks, to not expect things, but to understand that, you know, knowledge is earned, trust is earned, relationships are earned. And through respectful dialogue, commitment, showing up, being present, consistency, these are the things that are going to lead to positive business outcomes.”
— Dr. Michael Rattray, National Indigenous Relations Lead, Arcadis