In an interview Friday on the sidelines of his speech at the Toronto Area Chamber of Commerce, Greg Ebel said Canadian energy companies were increasingly willing to offer equity investments to Indigenous communities, including on traditional lands crossed by pipelines and other infrastructure projects.

However, he said Indigenous communities often lacked necessary access to capital. Although Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario all have programs that provide funding for business partnerships to Indigenous communities, Ebel says a pan-Canadian solution is needed.

“The problem is that much of our infrastructure in this country crosses jurisdictions and borders. We therefore need a national program,” he said.

“It is difficult for one province to offer loan guarantees to people living in another province. »

Although private companies have been working with Indigenous communities on infrastructure projects for decades, early agreements typically included guarantees of construction jobs or other financial benefits to the community but failed to ensure full equity ownership by Indigenous peoples.

However, this is changing. Last fall, Enbridge signed what was then North America’s largest energy partnership between a private company and indigenous peoples. The deal saw the Calgary-based company sell an 11.57% stake in seven pipelines in northern Alberta to 23 First Nations and Métis communities – a $1.1 billion deal through a Loan guarantee covering 250 million shares of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation was secured.

Several Indigenous-led groups have also expressed interest in purchasing a stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is currently owned by the federal government.

Additionally, indigenous communities have invested heavily in wind, solar and other clean energy projects. The non-profit Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise recently estimated that Indigenous communities own, co-own or have a defined financial benefit agreement for nearly 20% of Canada’s electricity generation infrastructure.