Canada’s leadership has endorsed Indigenous ownership stakes in energy and infrastructure projects, underscoring that they will be pivotal to economic development and national cohesiveness. A recent First Ministers’ statement, representing the Prime Minister and the 13 provincial/territorial Premiers, sets out five key principles for major projects, including that they should rank as high priorities for Indigenous leaders and draw on clean technologies and sustainable practices.
“First Ministers also agreed to build cleaner and more affordable electricity systems to reduce emissions and increase reliability toward achieving net zero by 2050,” the statement affirms. “In order to generate economic and social benefits, this work must be done by bringing together the right conditions, including Indigenous equity and participation, and deferring to provincial and territorial environmental assessments, where applicable.”
This follows soon after the federal Speech from the Throne confirmed the doubling of backstop funds available through the federal Indigenous loan guarantee fund, which will expand that pot to $10 billion. As well, the 2025 Manitoba provincial budget outlined plans for a new $300-million Indigenous loan guarantee program; the 2025 Ontario provincial budget announced a $3-billion Indigenous opportunities financing program to replace an existing $1-billion loan guarantee fund; and Newfoundland and Labrador’s Finance Minister reiterated in her 2025 budget address that the new Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Hydro-Québec memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Churchill River’s energy resources would present economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples.
In sync with those initiatives, the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) released a primer on Indigenous-owned electrical utilities earlier this spring. The Coalition’s more than 170 members — including elected councils, hereditary Chiefs, Tribal Chiefs and development corporations affiliated with First Nations — are focused on project development and/or facilitating ownership stakes for host communities where resource/infrastructure projects are located on First Nations’ lands. That’s currently taking form in 18 projects, located in British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, collectively totalling more than $45 billion worth of investment.
The new primer highlights the role Indigenous equity partners could play in generating low-carbon electricity and expanding the transmission grid to help meet national and provincial/territorial expectations for future power needs. However, Canada’s fragmented and often restrictive regulatory landscape poses some obstacles.
Provinces/territories hold authority over electricity generation, transmission and distribution within their borders, creating a patchwork of differing rules and market structures across Canadian jurisdictions. All markets have at least some monopoly elements, which constrain how prospective producers sell to customers and gain access to the transmission grid, but Indigenous project developers face some extra complications. The federal government holds the title for and retains regulatory oversight of reserve lands, depriving First Nations of collateral for raising project capital and the standard approvals path.
“This regulatory gap can make it harder for some First Nations to form or regulate utilities because the regulatory and legislative structures do not exist at the federal level and provincial laws may not extend to federal lands,” the FNMPC primer observes. “Financing challenges are a significant barrier to Indigenous equity participation in infrastructure projects in Canada. The Indian Act has long prevented Indigenous nations from access to capital for investment and economic development.”
The primer offers recommendations for how governments, regulators and Indigenous project proponents can ease those barriers, and provides some examples of existing Indigenous-led electricity utilities in Canada and the United States. It also outlines the options for various scales of operation, including: an on-reserve utility; an on-reserve utility with some off-site customers; a co-ownership model involving two or more neighbouring First Nations that can leverage economies of scale across a larger customer base; and an Indigenous power authority with a wider customer base and a number of vertically integrated business functions. What’s important, FNMPC maintains, is for other levels of government to be open to the possibilities.
“Indigenous-owned electrical utilities would proactively keep Canada’s electrification and reconciliation goals on track and become critical conduits to bring clean energy coast to coast to coast. More importantly — if done well and not unduly restricted — Indigenous-owned utilities will bolster Indigenous self-determination, nationhood and own-source revenues for Indigenous nations,” the primer’s executive summary asserts.
Indigenous participation was likewise identified as a must-have, along with speed, reliability and affordability, for ensuing the electricity system can support the electrification of heating, transportation and industrial processes that is envisioned in Canada’s goal for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The 2024 final report from the Canada Electricity Advisory Council, a 19-member expert panel tasked with exploring how best to decarbonize the electricity grid, underscored the need for infrastructure and the expectation that much of it will be built on Indigenous lands.
“Ownership of assets, revenue-sharing agreements, equity partnerships, job creation and supply-chain opportunities contribute to the economic well-being of Indigenous communities and allows them to assume a stronger role in decision-making,” the report states. “Indigenous participation also supports the diversification and growth of the Canadian electricity sector, while enhancing certainty and decreasing risk. In remote regions, this approach can also help reduce reliance on dirty and expensive diesel.”
FNMPC is now weighing in on the newly tabled, Bill C-5, proposed federal legislation which would enable projects to be designated as in the “national interest” and thus eligible for an streamlined approvals process. The legislation sets out five considerations for that designation that closely echo the language in the June 2 First Ministers’ statement, including projects that:
- advance the interests of Indigenous peoples; and
- contribute to clean growth and to meeting Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change.
The preamble to the bill also explicitly states that the government is committed to respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples as recognized and affirmed in section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act and set out in the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
FNMPC reiterates the critical importance of that pledge and the associated principle of obtaining free, prior and informed consent before the law is enacted, but notes that it is “encouraged” by the bill’s language. It also advises that project partnerships should include elements such as:
- equity ownership stakes or revenue sharing, and access to capital for prospective Indigenous investors;
- embedded procurement processes that integrate Indigenous labour and businesses into the supply chain;
- recognition of First Nation approval processes; and
- transparent metrics and reporting on Indigenous inclusion in projects.
“Many First Nations across the country are ready to partner on, lead, co-own and own major projects that benefit the Canadian economy,” the FNMPC reports. “The experiences of FNMPC’s membership and First Nations across the country are a testament to this: projects advance faster and with much greater legitimacy when First Nations are involved from the beginning as economic beneficiaries and environmental stewards.”
