● provide education for management and staff on a wide range of issues relating to the histories, cultures, rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples We are also observing the gradual transfer of responsibilities from the federal government to territorial governments (mainly inhabited by Indigenous populations). This process is called Devolution and includes responsibilities for health, education, social services, housing, infrastructure, land, and natural resources. The Yukon signed the final devolution agreement in April 2003, the Northwest Territories in June 2013 and Nunavut in January 2024. After devolution, the territorial governments take charge of decisions related to land use, development, mining, forestry, residential and commercial purposes, and wildlife management. Provincial Governments are signing consent-based agreements with Indigenous Nations to jointly review environmental impact assessments (EIAs) of projects that may affect their rights. Under these agreements, both the Province and the Indigenous Nations must approve the project before it can proceed. An example of this is the consent-based agreement, signed in 2022 by the Tahltan Government and the Province of British Columbia with respect to the Eskay Creek Mine Project. The Tahltan Nation served as a ‘co-regulator’ of the EIA, and Skeena Resources (mine proponent) had to obtain the consensus of this Nation before the Project was approved (BC Government, 2026). Practices linked to the consent-based agreements are the Indigenous-led Impact Assessments, where Indigenous communities undertake their own assessments outside of prevailing impact assessment legislation, and the Indigenous-led Rights Assessments, where a community leads the assessment of impacts on its own rights and/or interests, and how its relationship with the landscape may be impacted by a project. From mining proponents, we are seeing that negotiating Impact and Benefit Agreements or Relationship Agreements with Indigenous Nations is emerging as a framework to facilitate approvals and financing for resource development projects by demonstrating FPIC and support from Indigenous Nations, as well as co-creating value with them. This practice has been observed in Canada but also in the South Hemisphere. In Chile, for example, several major international companies are executing these types of arrangements to build and maintain long-term support of Indigenous Peoples living nearby their operations. Albermale has established a a benefit-sharing agreement with the Council Atacameño Peoples for operations in the Salar de Atacama which was signed in 2012. Through this agreement, Albermarle has committed to delivering 3.5% of sales annually in contributions to sustainable development projects such as a photovoltaic plant, drinking water and sewage networks, public lighting, and scholarships (Albermale, 2026). Another emerging practice is for companies to offer equity partnership opportunities to Indigenous Nations, enabling them to become equity partners or shareholders in major mining projects. The Canadian Government, for instance, has developed the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program (2025) to facilitate Indigenous groups obtaining loans at more favourable borrowing rates and thereby participating in these ownership arrangements in natural resource and energy sector projects. The program offers loan guarantees ranging from $20 million to $1 billion, enabling Indigenous groups to access commercial financing for equity stakes in large-scale 88
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