Indigenous partnerships—the key to meeting Canada’s climate commitments?

The author, Tabatha Bull, asserts that the clean energy transition in Canada will stall unless policymakers and proponents prioritize Indigenous partnerships and ownership. Drawing on her experience with Ontario's Feed-In-Tariff and Large Renewable Procurement programs, she highlights how targeted policy measures—such as lower security payments, equity-based pricing, and capacity-building funds—successfully increased Indigenous participation in the energy sector. The document details specific projects like the Peter Sutherland Sr. Generating Station and the Oneida Energy Storage LP as models of successful collaboration. Bull concludes with three recommendations for future partnerships: allowing more time for relationship building and community engagement, investing in community capacity to prepare for project proposals, and maintaining open, honest communication to overcome cultural and systemic barriers.

• Indigenous business growth in Canada is significant, with Indigenous Peoples creating new businesses at nine times the rate of non-Indigenous peoples. Over 35 per cent of the more than 60,000 Indigenous businesses in Canada operate in sectors relevant to energy, including construction, professional, manufacturing, and scientific and technical services.
• The Peter Sutherland Sr. Generating Station, a partnership between Ontario Power Generation and Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN), generates 28 megawatts of renewable electricity, powering approximately 28,000 homes. The project resulted in over $50 million in contracts for TTN businesses and employed about 50 TTN members.
• The Oneida Energy Storage LP, a joint venture between NRStor Inc. and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation supported by the Canada Infrastructure Bank, is developing what could be the largest energy storage facility in Canada to provide clean power capacity to the Ontario grid.
• Ontario's Feed-In-Tariff 5.0 program implemented specific measures to ensure Indigenous participation, including lower security payments, better pricing per kilowatt hour based on equity ownership, set-asides for projects with over 50 per cent Indigenous ownership, and extended milestone dates for projects on First Nation land.
• The Large Renewable Procurement program in Ontario saw 15 unique Indigenous communities participate, with 13 of the 16 contracts (totaling 454 megawatts) involving a First Nation partner, and five of those having more than 50 per cent equity participation.
• Barriers to Indigenous energy project success include limited transmission capacity, a lack of understanding regarding true partnership among associates, and restrictions imposed by the Indian Act regarding land decision-making.
• Effective Indigenous partnerships require specific structural supports: dedicated time for community engagement and membership ratification, funding for community capacity (such as full-time energy workers and legal/financial fees), and early engagement in infrastructure planning.

APA

Bull, T. (2021). Indigenous partnerships—the key to meeting Canada’s climate commitments? Canadian Climate Institute. https://climateinstitute.ca/publications/indigenous-partnerships/

Chicago

Bull, Tabatha. Indigenous partnerships—the key to meeting Canada’s climate commitments? Canadian Climate Institute, 2021. https://climateinstitute.ca/publications/indigenous-partnerships/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bull |first1=Tabatha |title=Indigenous partnerships—the key to meeting Canada’s climate commitments? |publisher=Canadian Climate Institute |date=12 October 2021 |url=https://climateinstitute.ca/publications/indigenous-partnerships/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bull2021indigenous, author = {Bull, Tabatha}, title = {{Indigenous partnerships—the key to meeting Canada’s climate commitments?}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://climateinstitute.ca/publications/indigenous-partnerships/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }