A. Activity on traditional lands: impact and benefit agreements

The Committee heard from witnesses that impact and benefit agreements (IBAs) form the basis of many resource exploration and extraction projects. These agreements are between the First Nation on whose traditional lands the economic activity will take place and the company that will undertake the activity:

The Voisey's Bay deposits are located on the traditional lands of the Innu and Inuit of Labrador. Given their rights over these lands, Vale entered into impacts and benefits agreements, IBAs, that set out how the land would be used and the benefits that would accrue to the Innu and the Inuit.[84]

Corey McPhee Vale

Cameco has negotiated impact management and collaboration agreements with the handful of communities most impacted by our sites. These agreements are the foundation of our corporate responsibility commitments to the region. They form the basis of our employment and training initiatives.[85]

According to the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, there are approximately 100 active agreements:

These are agreements signed between mining companies and Aboriginal communities. Most of those impact and benefit agreements — our socio-economic, our partnership agreements — have an employment component to them. The employment component often has targets around either a total number of Aboriginal people employed or a percentage of the work force coming from Aboriginal communities.[86]

Ryan Montpellier Mining Industry Human Resources Council

This Council, which had studied a number of IBAs, also testified that employment targets are often missed, for a variety of reasons:

We […] looked at a number of challenges around why companies and communities were struggling to reach their employment targets. A number of factors came, for example, the lack of trust and lack of knowledge about the project and careers. There were a number of barriers as to why employment targets were not met. One of the key ones was the lack of education, and in particular, essential skills and work readiness skills. Mining companies often underestimated what level of essential skills were in the community and how much of that early training was required to even get the individual employable in the sector.[87]

Ryan Montpellier Mining Industry Human Resources Council

In response to these findings, the mining industry and the Assembly of First Nations created the Mining Essentials Program.[88]

In addition to employment and training targets, IBAs and other agreements may include commitments related to Aboriginal businesses providing related services. Several employers identified the importance of Aboriginal businesses to their overall operations:

Both Syncrude and Suncor, as well as many of the other oil sands companies working in our region, do business, large sums of business, with both the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. The Fort McKay Group of Companies is obviously right on our doorstep and has a significant number of businesses providing services to the oil sands. All of us are using the services from those First Nations.[89]

Karen Flynn Syncrude Canada, Ltd.

Under the provisions of [our IBA], a large number of Cree-owned and operated businesses are providing us with a wide range of construction-related and site support services, including large civil works, road construction, and camp services.[90]

Colin Webster Goldcorp Inc.

The Committee heard from federal officials that the “whole of government” approach to supporting Aboriginal participation in the economy includes a commitment to procure goods and services from Aboriginal businesses:

We have a number of examples around procurement, including the $1.17 billion Canadian air force 5Wing Goose Bay project in Labrador, and the $33 billion national shipbuilding procurement strategy. Through projects like these, with 20- to 30-year life spans, Aboriginal businesses and individuals will now have access to millions of dollars' worth of procurement opportunities and employment opportunities.[91]

Sheilagh Murphy Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development

B. Private-sector investment

In addition to employment and procurement, the Committee heard that the private sector invests in Aboriginal business development, training and post-secondary programs in partnership with existing institutions, community-based training programs and on-the-job and other workplace training programs.

The Committee heard of private-sector support for business “incubators” in Aboriginal communities:

Suncor is […] proud of our involvement in business incubators, resource centres to foster entrepreneurs within the community, which in turn help to eliminate the need for social income support. The first of these incubators was in Fort McKay and the second is currently at the Tsuu T’ina First Nation near Calgary. […] Each model is slightly different, reflecting the needs of the community. In addition to funding, Suncor employees volunteer their time, sharing their expertise in areas such as building business plans, marketing, proposal building, and even certification programs.[92]

Mary-Pat Campbell Suncor Energy Inc.

The Committee also heard that major employers offered direct support to the development of specific Aboriginal businesses:

We've […] been working with Aboriginal contractors directly for their procurement bidding expertise to assist them in understanding how and through what vehicles they should be looking for procurement opportunities. The practice has proven to be very successful as a way for these contractors to […] get their foot in the door. Once they have a proven track record, then they can bid for more work with my company and others.[93]

Ian Anderson Kinder Morgan Canada

Training-associated work placements have been particularly successful in small and medium-sized Aboriginal businesses:

The one learning that I'd like to stress from our experience […] is the success of clients who were placed with small to mid-sized local Aboriginal businesses working at Suncor. Suncor offered subsidies to these small businesses to take on the students for the work experience part of the program. This arrangement provided the greatest program success rates and the clients thrived. Local Aboriginal businesses understood the challenges the clients were facing, they could provide individualized care and nurturing, and provided a bridge between Aboriginal culture and work culture.[94]

Mary-Pat Campbell Suncor Energy Inc.

Federal tax credits were recommended by witnesses to encourage larger companies to support such small businesses in more remote areas:

[The Canadian Chamber of Commerce] suggested that the government offer businesses tax credits to make it more attractive for companies to assist new small businesses in remote areas, many of which are often Aboriginal businesses.[95]

Susanna Cluff-Clyburne Canadian Chamber of Commerce

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Committee recommends that the government consider offering business tax credits and/or other incentives to companies assisting new Aboriginal small businesses in remote areas.

C. Training and post-secondary programs

Many witnesses have formal partnerships with colleges to provide training for existing and potential recruits, primarily Aboriginal people. Some examples are provided below:

In 2009, we started a community industry educational initiative which we called the Ring of Fire Training Alliance. [An agreement] was signed in 2012 among us: Noront Resources, Confederation College and […] the training arm of the Matawa Tribal Council.[96]

Paul Semple Noront Resources Ltd.

Nunavut Arctic College provides great in-kind contributions, classroom and other space, and greatly reduced rates in accommodation and meals.[97]

Elizabeth Cayen Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium

One of our landmark programs is something known as the Aboriginal trades prep program with our community college.[98]

Karen Flynn Syncrude Canada, Ltd.

D. Training programs in Aboriginal communities and in workplaces

The Committee heard that local training is needed to overcome the barriers and challenges caused by relocation, as was discussed in the chapters “Improving Aboriginal Education” and “Improving Labour Market Outcomes for Aboriginal People”.

In some cases, rather than requiring employees to relocate for training, employers support existing employees with training in the workplace:

At two of our operations, we have full-time workplace educators who work in partnership with the regional college, Northlands College. The workplace educators provide GED and grade 12 upgrading and skills training to Cameco employees and contractors.[99]

Russel Mercredi Cameco Corporation

… we’ve also worked with our employers on major projects to develop on-site training through project labour agreements.[100]

Steven Schumann International Union of Operating Engineers

The Committee recognizes the valuable contribution made by employers and other stakeholders to the formal and informal apprenticeship programs that contribute to employment opportunities for Aboriginal people. The next chapter in this report, “Renewal of the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy and Other Programs”, includes a discussion of these programs.

E. Multi-sectoral partnerships

As described by federal officials,

[The Government of Canada’s] federal framework for Aboriginal economic development [is] opportunity driven and puts emphasis on building partnerships with Aboriginal groups, the private sector, and the provinces and territories.[101]

Allan Clarke Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development

Partnerships, as described above, have been embraced as the most effective way to increase training and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people. In addition to bilateral partnerships, e.g., between industry and post-secondary institutions, or between industry and Aboriginal organizations, the Committee heard of the importance of bringing all the stakeholders to the table to explore and agree upon solutions. One such example, mentioned earlier in this chapter, is the Mining Essentials program:

Mining Essentials is a pre-employment work readiness training program geared for Aboriginal people. It was developed between the mining industry and the Assembly of First Nations [AFN]. It's a partnership between both the industry and the AFN but it was developed in partnership with the Metis, with the Inuit, with essential skills experts in Canada, with a number of educational institutions.[102]

Ryan Montpellier Mining Industry Human Resources Council

Federal officials told the Committee about recent initiatives to bring similar groups of stakeholders together to share what they have learned:

[The Strategic Partnerships Initiative] SPI funded two forums for Aboriginal groups to improve knowledge about the energy sector in B.C. These events brought together First Nations leadership, government, and industry partners to improve understanding and knowledge about the complexities, risks, and opportunities of major resource projects.[103]

Allan Clarke Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development

The Committee heard from mining industry officials that the federal government plays a critical convening role in giving all partners equal status and importance:

I can tell you, having sat on the board [of the then-B.C. Aboriginal Mine Training Association], that what the federal government does by bringing itself to the table with financial support is level the playing field and it puts industry and Aboriginal communities on an equal playing field around the table.[104]

Pierre Gratton Mining Association of Canada

RECOMMENDATION 9

The Committee recommends that the federal government work with industry to encourage the creation of a forum for Aboriginal communities, government and industry to share best practices about successful training, employment and procurement initiatives to improve Aboriginal training and employment outcomes.