Economic Development

The First Nation People have relationships, rights, and responsibilities to the lands and water, which are drawn from sacred law and traditional law. We are the original stewards of the land, and we believe that what we do to the land we do to ourselves, and to our future generations.

When it comes to economic development, First Nations in Ontario face a host of diverse and complex opportunities and challenges. The Chiefs of Ontario play a role in working with communities to develop tools to address some of these opportunities and challenges and offers advocacy support for Economic Development initiatives.

First Nation communities are becoming increasingly involved in sectors such as energy projects, mining, forestry, tourism, agriculture, and gaming etc. From producing locally grown food to generating electricity, from owning and operating world class casinos, resorts, and golf courses, to producing the next generation of trades people and professionals, First Nations have vast potential to enhance the economies of their citizens.

The Chiefs of Ontario Economic Development Sector has developed the attached Grants Tracker. This Grants Tracker is relevant for the First Nations in Ontario. The list is not exhaustive, however, can be the starting point if looking for grants to support economic development in your community. The tracker will be updated quarterly.

This document was last updated on February 7, 2025. For further information, please contact Arvind Sharma at Arvind.Sharma@coo.org.

The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) has started the Supply Chain Mapping and Procurement Project to support First Nations businesses in Ontario. The primary aim of this project is to support First Nations businesses by enhancing their visibility and accessibility to both the public and private sectors, thereby facilitating more opportunities for procurement of goods and services from these businesses. This will be achieved through the development of a comprehensive inventory of First Nations businesses within the province, culminating in the creation of a publicly accessible online portal.

In a landscape where no current platform brings together businesses, government, and private sector procurement officers to easily find First Nations businesses, your participation becomes pivotal.
By being part of this directory, you have the opportunity to:

  • Enhance Visibility: Increase your business’s discoverability among government entities, private sector, and other First Nations.
  • Build Connections: Foster potential opportunities and partnerships, both within and extending beyond First Nations communities.
  • Respect for Data Sovereignty:  Ensure alignment with the First Nations Principles of OCAP, respectful management of your data, honoring ownership, control, access, and possession.

This directory is more than a simple listing of businesses as it will link to a portal showcasing a geographical map with filtering capabilities.

Sustainable Economic Development

Sustainable economic development means committing ourselves to generate economic opportunities for our Peoples today while upholding our responsibility to the lands and the waters for future generations.

We believe that everything that we need to sustain us is contained in the resources of our Mother Earth. Thus “sustainable development” must be exercised and developed not only to the benefits of our generations today, but that today’s development will not leave our future generations without these same benefits from sustainable resources.

Our Nations have the inherent right, as reaffirmed through the Treaties, the UNDRIP, and the Canadian Constitution, to protect, develop and utilize our traditional territories. The Treaty relationship stipulates the sharing of resources within our territories, as well as the free, prior and informed consent required by our Nations for any development on these lands.

We have a critical role to play in making sustainable development a reality in Canada, given our responsibilities for managing the lands, the importance of honouring Creation and the earth to our way of life, and the fact that we are most often the first to experience the impacts of environmental change and damage.

First Nations seek to build relationships with industry and commercial sectors, and foresee ourselves as players at all levels of the economy, but these relationships must be built on our inherent right to assert jurisdiction over our traditional territories.

Contact Economic Development

Arvind Sharma P.Eng
Director of Economic Development
Chiefs of Ontario
Cell: 705 929 6035
Office: 416 597 1266
Toll-Free: 1-877-517-6527
Arvind.Sharma@coo.org

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