economic and Business development

---

First Nation leaders in Canada have long recognized the importance of economic / business development / individual entrepreneurship as being large pieces of a very complicated puzzle; a puzzle that has remained unsolved for many generations. There are many reasons why economies are non-existent in too many First Nation communities across Canada, including:

• Residual effects of implementation of Canada’s colonial tools (i.e. Indian Residential School System, Indian Act, Indian Reserve System, etc.);
• Segregation / isolation from local regional, provincial economies by purposely locating Indian Reserves away from the most populated and valuable areas
• Lack of capacity and resources to effectively grasp economic opportunity.

The diversity of Canada’s First Peoples is immense. In 2019, there were 634 individual recognized First Nation communities in Canada. Of these 600+ First Nations, many can be considered advanced (i.e. strong economies, healthy communities). Many have taken steps to move away from Canada’s Indian Act through negotiation of treaties; ratification of land codes and customizing their election processes.

Indigenous Insight brings significant experience to the monitoring of economic activity within traditional territories and leveraging opportunity at the table.