This bulletin provides an update on trends we have observed in Indigenous equity investments over the previous two years, from 2023-2025 YTD, as part of our series monitoring announcements of such investments in energy and related infrastructure projects in Canada[1][2][3].
Indigenous equity investments in projects play a vital role in promoting economic empowerment and self-determination for Indigenous communities. By securing a stake in energy and infrastructure developments, these investments help to build sustainable economic opportunities, foster community growth, and strengthen collaborative relationships between Indigenous groups and industry partners.
To date, we have reviewed 165 energy and related infrastructure projects across Canada partially or wholly owned by Indigenous communities[4]. Similar to our findings last year[5], approximately 29% of all Indigenous equity investments reviewed were announced in the last two years, from 2023-2025 YTD, suggesting continued steady growth but perhaps not yet representing the significant uptick we have been expecting to see once access to affordable capital is unlocked.
1. Distribution of Indigenous Equity Investments Across Canada
Last year, we predicted that the BC Hydro Call for Power 2024[6] would drive an increase in the number of equity investments announced in British Columbia[7]. This prediction was correct: in 2023-2025 YTD, British Columbia saw the highest number of Indigenous equity investments announced in Canada, with 38% of new investments announced. This trend is consistent with the high number of Indigenous equity investments previously announced in British Columbia: 37% of investments made before 2023 were located in British Columbia.
The BC Hydro Call for Power 2024 was a request for proposals aimed at securing power from new renewable energy projects that meet specific eligibility criteria[8]. A key requirement was that First Nations hold at least 25% equity ownership of the project at the commercial operation date[9]. With other provincial utilities announcing similar equity requirements or incentives in upcoming procurement processes (e.g. Ontario[10] and Manitoba[11]), we expect to see increased growth in these provinces in future years.
The second highest number of Indigenous equity investments announced in 2023-2025 YTD (18%) were located in Alberta, with the majority (75%) of these investments occurring in 2023. In our previous bulletin, Alberta placed first with the highest number of announced investments[12]. It is interesting to note that the projects announced in Alberta in 2024 were wind and solar projects; whereas a number of the investments announced in 2023 included larger oil and gas projects or existing infrastructure. We did not identify any new equity investment announcements in 2023-2025 YTD for projects located in New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, or Northwest Territories. The distribution across other provinces was as follows: BC: 38%; AB: 18%; SK: 16%; MB: 2%; ON: 8%; Québec: 4%; Nova Scotia: 8%; YT: 2%; and NU: 4%.
2. Breakdown Across Sectors
Wind is again the dominant sector for Indigenous equity investments announced in 2023-2025 YTD, representing 40% of new Indigenous equity investment announcements. Solar follows, representing 18% of Indigenous equity investments announced during this time period. This represented a shift from our previous bulletin, in which oil & gas was the second-most dominant sector, owing in large part to the large Alberta transactions announced in 2023[13].
Other sectors represented in announcements from 2023-2025 YTD included oil & gas (10%), energy storage (10%), electricity transmission (4%), green hydrogen (4%), hydroelectricity generation (2%), battery manufacturing (2%), biofuel (2%), geothermal (2%), hydrogen transportation (2%), telecom/fibre optic cables linked with transmission lines (2%) and cogeneration (2%).
We expect to see continued strong results in projects involving renewable energy with the programs referenced above, as well as perhaps an increase in electricity transmission as a result of programs announced over the last few years as these projects make their way through the development lifecycle (e.g. Hydro One[14] and BC Hydro[15]).
3. Size of Equity Interest
Where data on the size of Indigenous communities’ equity interest in a project was reported for investments announced in 2023-2025 YTD, we observed that most projects (40%) were majority-owned by Indigenous communities (i.e. more than 50% ownership interest but excluding 100% ownership), while 22% of projects were wholly owned by Indigenous communities. In other words, most Indigenous equity investment announcements were for projects majority or wholly owned by Indigenous communities, and another 16% of projects were owned equally between Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous partners.
In comparison, only 22% of investments announced had Indigenous communities holding a minority equity interest (i.e. less than 50% ownership interest), indicating a clear trend in favour of at least 50% Indigenous equity ownership.
4. Number of Indigenous Communities Involved
We have identified at least 243 Indigenous communities that have obtained or announced an equity interest investment across all projects in our database.
In 2023-2025 YTD, we identified 75 different Indigenous communities that had announced an equity investment in this period. This represents a reduction in the number of Indigenous communities announcing equity investments in comparison to our previous bulletin, which may be due in part to the change in the type of projects in which such investments were announced (i.e. more non-linear projects, in which investments tend to include fewer Indigenous communities compared to linear infrastructure)[16].
Of these 75 Indigenous communities, 64% announced their first equity investment during this time period, while 36% had already announced a previous equity investment.
Where the number of Indigenous communities investing in a project was publicly available, more projects were owned by a single Indigenous community than by two or more communities. In 2023-2025 YTD, 76% of projects announced were owned by only one Indigenous community, while 24% were owned by two or more communities. The median number of Indigenous communities involved in a project was 4.5, up to a maximum of 13 Indigenous communities.
5. Conclusions
We will continue to monitor announcements of new Indigenous equity investments in these projects. With the recent announcement that the federal government plans to double the funds available through the new federal Indigenous loan guarantee program[17][18], we continue to expect to see growth in Indigenous equity investments in energy and related infrastructure projects across the country.
Further, given the success of the 2024 BC Hydro Call for Power in increasing Indigenous equity participation in British Columbia projects, we also expect jurisdictions adopting a similar approach in public procurement processes, by requiring minimum levels of Indigenous equity participation, will see similar growth in such investments.
