Indigenous equity ownership saw momentum in 2024, but more work still to be done
Global News
The year also saw the announcement of an agreement that would see TC Energy sell a minority stake in a natural gas transmission network to a consortium of Indigenous communities.
When electric utility BC Hydro launched a procurement process earlier this year seeking new sources of clean energy for the province’s power grid, it included a specific requirement: projects must be at least 25 per cent owned by First Nations.
The procurement was BC Hydro’s first competitive request in more than 15 years, and the utility ended up receiving proposals for three times more energy than it was targeting. It plans to announce the successful proponents by the end of the year.
BC Hydro’s power program, and its decision to mandate First Nations equity ownership requirements, was just one of a series of milestones achieved this year on the road to improved economic participation by Canada’s Indigenous people.
Other major achievements in 2024 included a positive final investment decision by the proponents of Cedar LNG, a US$4-billion liquefied natural gas terminal being built off the coast of B.C. The facility will be majority-owned by the Haisla Nation, making Cedar LNG the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in Canada.
The year also saw the announcement of a $1-billion agreement that would see TC Energy Corp. sell a minority stake in its Western Canadian natural gas transmission network to a consortium of Indigenous communities. Though the deal hit a snag due to what TC Energy called a “transaction structuring issue” and has not yet closed, it could be the largest-ever Indigenous equity agreement in Canadian history.
“It certainly has been a good year, and it has also given us as Indigenous people a lot of hope about the future, especially going into 2025,” said Sharleen Gale, chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition and a former Chief of the Fort Nelson First Nation in B.C.
Historically, some of Canada’s largest infrastructure projects — from mines to pipelines to power generating facilities — have been built on Indigenous territory.
While corporations have begun to recognize that Indigenous communities deserve to benefit from projects on their lands, in recent years these benefits have typically come in the form of construction jobs or procurement opportunities and have fallen short of offering Indigenous people a full equity stake.
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