On frigid winter nights in northern Alberta, the glow from the outdoor hockey rink warms Tyler Letendre’s heart. 

This year more than ever, the lights are bright, the ice is smooth, and the boards are solid — built to last, not patched together year after year like they used to be.

For Letendre, the operations manager and economic development officer for Peerless Trout First Nation (PTFN), the rink is more than a place for friends and families to get together to skate. It’s proof that something fundamental has changed in his community.

“Two years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Letendre says. “Now, it’s something our kids can rely on.”

The transformation didn’t come from a one-time grant or a short-term program. 

It came from equity ownership in energy infrastructure — a model that is quietly reshaping how Indigenous communities build wealth, plan for the future, and assert economic self-determination.

Why ownership matters in remote communities

Photo courtesy Peerless Trout First Nation

Peerless Trout First Nation is a rural, semi-isolated community in northern Alberta. Its two main settlements sit 29 kilometres apart, meaning the Nation must often build and maintain two of everything, from roads to recreation facilities.

“In communities like ours, location matters,” Letendre explains. 

“If you’re near a major city, like Tsuu T’ina or Enoch, business development is easier. If you’re not, it’s very hard to generate own-source revenue.”

For PTFN, oil and gas development in the region created opportunity.

In 2023, the Nation and 11 other communities acquired an 85 per cent stake in $172 million in oil and gas pipeline assets operated by Tamarack Valley Energy in the Clearwater play. The deal was supported by the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.

Since closing, the 12 First Nations and Métis communities have secured stable revenue streams that have proven more valuable than traditional impact benefit agreements (IBAs), long central to Indigenous engagement in the energy sector.

Photo courtesy Tamarack Valley Energy

“IBAs fluctuate with oil and gas prices,” Letendre says. “You can’t borrow against them. Banks won’t look at you.”

Equity ownership, by contrast, creates a tangible asset.

“With equity, you have ownership and predictable returns,” he says. “Banks recognize that.”

A ‘significant shift’ in energy development

Indigenous ownership of oil and gas projects has surged in the past five years, according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

The CER reports that since 2021, Indigenous communities have acquired ownership interests in more than 5,000 kilometres of pipelines across the country. 

This is in addition to ownership stakes in four LNG terminals in B.C. and Manitoba at various stages of development. 

Many of the agreements are supported by government loan guarantee programs like the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. 

“Overall, the growing role of Indigenous ownership in pipelines and LNG projects in Canada marks a significant shift in how major energy projects in the country are developed, financed, and managed,” the CER said.

Turning revenue into community infrastructure

Over the past two years, PTFN and the other communities have used Clearwater equity revenues to support education initiatives, emergency preparedness, wildfire evacuations and other community priorities without the restrictions that often come with government funding.

“There are no strings attached,” Letendre says. “We decide what our community needs most.”

One of the most visible examples is the Nation’s upgraded outdoor hockey rinks — $1.4-million structures with shells, lighting, boards and higher construction standards.

“These aren’t temporary fixes,” he says. “They’re built to last.”

Letendre says the energy partnership has strengthened and diversified PTFN’s economic base. 

While the community’s locally owned construction company creates much-needed jobs and builds capacity, expansion also brings added risk and expense.

“The equity deal is straight revenue. It did in one year what our construction revenue did in three – more than $500,000 a year – and if the company does well in production, it could be more,” he says.

A pattern repeating across Canada

Peerless Trout’s experience is not unique.

At Willow Lake Métis Nation, ownership of energy infrastructure has been transformative in similar ways. 

After investing in Suncor Energy’s Northern Courier Pipeline, the Nation was able to purchase 205 acres of land near Fort McMurray — its first modern homeland — now known as Sohkastwâwin, a Cree word meaning “resilience.”

Astisiy Limited Partnership, representing eight Indigenous communities, acquired Suncor’s 15 per cent interest in the Northern Courier Pipeline. Photo courtesy Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation

Revenue from that deal has since been used to support housing, cultural programming and the purchase of a campground and RV park that Willow Lake plans to redevelop into an Indigenous tourism destination.

“For us, ownership means stability, being able to plan for the long term and invest in what matters most to each community,” says Justin Bourque, former CEO of the Nation who now leads a consulting firm specializing in negotiation and management of meaningful Indigenous-led industry partnerships. 

“Equity ownership doesn’t replace consultation requirements for energy companies. When you add the two together, it’s a deeper relationship that’s more well-rounded and more engaged.”

That same principle underpins Enbridge’s Project Rocket, a landmark partnership that saw 23 First Nations and Métis communities acquire an ownership stake in seven major pipeline assets in northern Alberta in 2022. 

One of the largest Indigenous equity transactions in North America, the deal has provided about $25 million over the last three years – steady, long-term revenue that communities are using for housing, education, elder supports and economic diversification.

Enbridge’s latest Indigenous partnership saw 38 First Nations acquire 12.5 per cent equity ownership of the company’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system in British Columbia for approximately $736 million.

Squiala First Nation Chief David Jimmie said the deal will generate sustained economic benefits for the community from an asset that has operated within its traditional territories for more than 65 years. 

“People often ask what economic reconciliation for Indigenous Peoples looks like. This is it,” he said when the partnership was announced last May.

From ‘too good to be true’ to a new normal

Photo courtesy Peerless Trout First Nation/Facebook

For Peerless Trout First Nation, equity ownership has also unlocked the ability to think beyond immediate needs.

The Nation is now in the design phase of a fishing lodge and resort, a project aimed at diversifying the local economy and creating sustainable employment based on the fantastic fishing in the area’s lakes and rivers.

With equity in energy assets under its belt, the community is now able to leverage other financing for business ventures that were previously out of reach.

“At the beginning, it felt too good to be true, but it’s not,” Letendre says.

“Now we’re not just sitting back waiting for opportunities to arrive. We have the experience to be able to go out and approach industry on our own and pursue more partnerships,” he says.

“If we can do 10 more deals like this, it will benefit our people hundreds of times over for generations.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Wayne Rothlisberger, a member of the Doig River First Nation in the heart of the massive Montney natural gas play, has spent three decades working in the energy sector.

He’s now vice-president of business development with ÚÚJǪ Developments LP, the business arm of the northern B.C. Nation, and it’s a busy job. 

“ÚÚJǪ has seven equity partnerships in energy, aviation and banking, and we probably get two proposals a month given the interest in working in the Montney shale,” Rothlisberger says. 

He was intrigued when he first learned about a new technology developed by Calgary-based Kathairos Solutions to reduce or eliminate methane emissions from oil and gas well sites.

“Energy companies operating in this region have come to realize the importance of working with First Nations and economic reconciliation,” he says. 

“But Kathairos made sense on another level because they are providing an environmental solution that helps both locally and globally. And that’s something that we value, too.”

Oil and gas producers on both sides of the Montney play have made significant progress reducing methane emissions. 

In Alberta, producers met the target of reducing methane emissions in the province by 45 per cent below 2014 levels three years ahead of schedule in 2022 — and surpassed it in 2023 with a 52 per cent reduction.

Meanwhile, in B.C., producers achieved a 51 per cent reduction over the same period. 

But there is more work to do.  

Kathairos’ technology uses liquid nitrogen as a replacement for the methane or natural gas normally used to power the pneumatic devices that serve as the nerve centre for oil and gas production wells. 

Pneumatic devices regulate flows, separate liquids and perform other critical functions by making valves move. 

Conventionally, every time a device is actuated, a small amount of methane is emitted into the atmosphere. 

By replacing the methane or natural gas with nitrogen, when the valves powered by the pneumatics are actuated, an inert, clean gas is emitted. 

The liquid nitrogen is stored in cryogenic tanks at the well site.

“Similar tanks have been safely and effectively used for decades in other industries, such as health care or beverages,” says Kathairos spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson. 

“But it was our company founder Dick Brown who saw the potential to apply them to well sites to solve the problem of venting methane.”

Peterson says the company has more than 2,400 units operating across North America, with 179 in Alberta and 36 in B.C. 

Through three offset programs at 125 separate facilities, Kathairos has been independently verified to have mitigated more than 44,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. 

The solution was impressive enough for ÚÚJǪ and Doig River to invest.

“We are a shareholder and ÚÚJǪ is self-funded so we need to invest wisely,” says Rothlisberger. 

“There will be employment opportunities in the future as Kathairos establishes itself and scales up in Canada.”

Kathairos, which employs about 70 people with field offices throughout North America, welcomed the opportunity to partner with ÚÚJǪ and Doig River.

“We were looking for investors and engaging in the Indigenous communities whose traditional lands we were working on,” says Peterson, whose company has a similar agreement with the Halfway River First Nation. 

“As we grow in the Montney region, we will further these relationships with employment opportunities and direct investment back in their communities.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Sinbad may have sailed the seven seas, but he never saw as much of the briny deep as Shawn Jones.

Jones, who has spent almost three decades working on ships around the world, had both of his feet firmly planted ashore on an early April afternoon as HaiSea Marine tugboats escorted the first LNG carrier into its berth at LNG Canada’s marine terminal jetty in Kitimat, B.C.

The vessel safely arrived in the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation carrying a cargo of liquefied natural gas that was offloaded into the facility for equipment testing in advance of the terminal’s first LNG export cargoes.

It was a historic moment even for the experienced seafarer, who now serves as HaiSea’s senior operations manager.

“Our crews have been training and preparing for this moment for a very long time. Everyone, from the tug crews to the shore team came together and it went seamlessly,” said Jones, who holds the highest grade of seafarer qualification as a master mariner.

“This import cargo was a trial run, as soon many of these LNG carriers will come through the channel and sail off to markets around the world.”

Spanning the length of about two and a half football fields, the first LNG carrier, called Gaslog Glasgow, is targeted to arrive on June 29, according to Reuters news.

Shipments will gradually increase to 180 vessels a year coming through the channel. And all of them will be guided by HaiSea tugboats.

“We have two escort tugs to guide them through the channel and then three harbour tugs working with shore teams to help dock and undock them,” said Jones.

“There’s not a lot of large commercial traffic. We see private boaters and fishermen along with supply vessels, but nothing as big as these LNG carriers. That’s why we spent a year training for this.”

HaiSea is a joint venture between Vancouver-based Seaspan Marine and the Haisla Nation, whose traditional lands oversee the Douglas Channel.

Bearing Haisla names, the company’s five tugboats reflect the blend of tradition and state-of-the-art technology.

“The three electric harbour tugs are able to run completely on battery power while the two escort tugs have the ability to run on LNG or diesel,” said Jones, who moved to Kitimat last year from South Korea, where he commissioned oil and gas ships at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard.

“I graduated from a maritime academy back in 1995 and I would have never believed I would see the day when boats ran on batteries or LNG.”

The California native, whose career has taken him into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Africa, has developed a deep respect for the Haisla Nation’s seafaring ability.

“About 20 per cent of HaiSea’s workforce is Indigenous and the majority of those employees are members of the Haisla Nation,” said  Jones.

“Being on the water is in their DNA. They are a seafaring nation because they have grown up next to the water so they’ve spent time fishing and boating. There are skills they have to learn but they want to learn and progress and we will help them with that. We are working with BCIT [the British Columbia Institute of Technology] to get training courses locally.”

And with construction now underway on the Haisla Nation’s own Cedar LNG project, Jones expects more opportunities for community members, both onshore and in the open water.

“Our plan is to keep the positive momentum going and focus on additional training to prepare for the first LNG export cargo, which will be history in the making for Canada, LNG Canada and HaiSea Marine.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Building a port on Hudson Bay to ship natural resources harvested across Western Canada to the world has been a long-held dream of Canadian politicians, starting with Sir Wilfred Laurier.

Since 1931, a small deepwater port has operated at Churchill, Manitoba, primarily shipping grain but more recently expanding handling of critical minerals and fertilizers.

A group of 11 First Nations in Manitoba plans to build an additional industrial terminal nearby at Port Nelson to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe and potash to Brazil.

Courtesy NeeStaNan

Robyn Lore, a director with project backer NeeStaNan, which is Cree for “all of us,” said it makes more sense to ship Canadian LNG to Europe from an Arctic port than it does to send Canadian natural gas all the way to the U.S. Gulf Coast to be exported as LNG to the same place – which is happening today.

“There is absolutely a business case for sending our LNG directly to European markets rather than sending our natural gas down to the Gulf Coast and having them liquefy it and ship it over,” Lore said. “It’s in Canada’s interest to do this.”

Over 100 years ago, the Port Nelson location at the south end of Hudson’s Bay on the Nelson River was the first to be considered for a Canadian Arctic port.

In 1912, a Port Nelson project was selected to proceed rather than a port at Churchill, about 280 kilometres north.

Port Nelson, Manitoba in 1918. Photo courtesy NeeStaNan

The Port Nelson site was earmarked by federal government engineers as the most cost-effective location for a terminal to ship Canadian resources overseas.

Construction started but was marred by building challenges due to violent winter storms that beached supply ships and badly damaged the dredge used to deepen the waters around the port.

By 1918, the project was abandoned.

In the 1920s, Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King chose Churchill as the new location for a port on Hudson’s Bay, where it was built and continues to operate today between late July and early November when it is not iced in.

Lore sees using modern technology at Port Nelson including dredging or extending a floating wharf to overcome the challenges that stopped the project from proceeding more than a century ago.

Port Nelson, Manitoba in 1918. Photo courtesy NeeStaNan

He said natural gas could travel to the terminal through a 1,000-kilometre spur line off TC Energy’s Canadian Mainline by using Manitoba Hydro’s existing right of way.

A second option proposes shipping natural gas through Pembina Pipeline’s Alliance system to Regina, where it could be liquefied and shipped by rail to Port Nelson.

The original rail bed to Port Nelson still exists, and about 150 kilometers of track would have to be laid to reach the proposed site, Lore said.

“Our vision is for a rail line that can handle 150-car trains with loads of 120 tonnes per car running at 80 kilometers per hour. That’s doable on the line from Amery to Port Nelson. It makes the economics work for shippers,” said Lore.

Port Nelson could be used around the year because saltwater ice is easier to break through using modern icebreakers than freshwater ice that impacts Churchill between November and May.

Lore, however, is quick to quell the notion NeeStaNan is competing against the existing port.

“We want our project to proceed on its merits and collaborate with other ports for greater efficiency,” he said.

“It makes sense for Manitoba, and it makes sense for Canada, even more than it did for Laurier more than 100 years ago.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

(Updated June 6, 2025)

A consensus is forming in Canada that Indigenous ownership will be key to large-scale, nation-building projects like oil and gas pipelines to diversify exports beyond the United States.

“Indigenous ownership benefits projects by making them more likely to happen and succeed,” said John Desjarlais, executive director of the Indigenous Resource Network.

“This is looked at as not just a means of reconciliation, a means of inclusion or a means of managing risk. I think we’re starting to realize this is really good business,” he said.

“It’s a completely different time than it was 10 years ago, even five years ago. Communities are much more informed, they’re much more engaged, they’re more able and ready to consider things like ownership and investment. That’s a very new thing at this scale.”

Canada’s ongoing trade dispute with the United States is converging with a rising tide of Indigenous ownership in resource projects.

“Canada is in a great position to lead, but we need policymakers to remove barriers in developing energy infrastructure. This means creating clear and predictable regulations and processes,” said Colin Gruending, Enbridge’s president of liquids pipelines.

“Indigenous involvement and investment in energy projects should be a major part of this strategy. We see great potential for deeper collaboration and support for government programs that help Indigenous communities participate in energy development.”

In a statement to the Canadian Energy Centre, the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) – which has backstopped more than 40 communities in energy project ownership agreements with a total value of over $725 million – highlighted the importance of seizing the moment:

“The time is now. Canada has a chance to rethink how we build and invest in infrastructure,” said AIOC CEO Chana Martineau.

“Indigenous partnerships are key to making true nation-building projects happen by ensuring critical infrastructure is built in a way that is competitive, inclusive and beneficial for all Canadians. Indigenous Nations are essential partners in the country’s economic future.”

Key to this will be provincial and federal programs such as loan guarantees to reduce the risk for Indigenous groups and industry participants.

“There are a number of instruments that would facilitate ownership that we’ve seen grow and develop…such as the loan guarantee programs, which provide affordable access to capital for communities to invest,” Desjarlais said.

Outside Alberta, there are now Indigenous loan guarantee programs federally and in Saskatchewan. A program in British Columbia is in development.

In May, Canada Development Investment Corporation announced the first loan guarantee under the national program, providing a $400 million backstop for 36 Indigenous communities in B.C. to purchase a 12.5 per cent stake in the Enbridge Westcoast natural gas pipeline system.

Highlighting the benefits of these agreements, the Indigenous Resource Network points to a partnership between Enbridge and the Willow Lake Métis Nation that led to a land purchase of a nearby campground the band plans to turn into a tourist destination.

“Tourism provides an opportunity for Willow Lake to tell its story and the story of the Métis. That is as important to our elders as the economic considerations,” Willow Lake chief financial officer Michael Robert told the Canadian Energy Centre.

The AIOC reiterates the importance of Indigenous project ownership in a call to action for all parties:

“It is essential that Indigenous communities have access to large-scale capital to support this critical development. With the right financial tools, we can build a more resilient, self-sufficient and prosperous economy together. This cannot wait any longer.”

In an open letter to the leaders of all four federal political parties, the CEOs of 14 of Canada’s largest oil and gas producers and pipeline operators highlighted the need for the federal government to step up its participation in a changing public mood surrounding the construction of resource projects:

“The federal government needs to provide Indigenous loan guarantees at scale so industry may create infrastructure ownership opportunities to increase prosperity for communities and to ensure that Indigenous communities benefit from development,” they wrote.

For Desjarlais, it is critical that communities ultimately make their own decisions about resource project ownership.

“We absolutely have to respect that communities want to self-determine and choose how they want to invest, choose how they manage a lot of the risk and how they mitigate it. And, of course, how they pursue the rewards that come from major project investment,” he said.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.

The final investment decision for the world’s first Indigenous majority-owned LNG project, on B.C.’s northern coast, signals a new era for Indigenous economic participation in Canada’s energy sector, says the Haisla Nation’s Chief Councillor.

Crystal Smith says the Cedar LNG project reversed traditional roles for an energy project, with an Indigenous community inviting an outside proponent to participate rather than the other way around.

“I think the uniqueness of Cedar is that it was Indigenous-owned from the beginning, the onset of Cedar, the first decisions were made by members of the Haisla Nation as the makeup of the first Cedar LNG board members,” Smith said on a recent podcast hosted by ARC Energy Research Institute.

“Our nation has been working on the project for approximately a decade, so a little over 10 years it’s been in our sight and in our vision.”

In fall 2018, as part of a benefit agreement with the LNG Canada project in their traditional territory, the Haisla negotiated space on the Coastal GasLink pipeline for their own LNG project.

In June 2021, Pembina Pipeline Corporation entered into an agreement with the Haisla to become the Nation’s industry partner.

“We had been aware of the Cedar LNG opportunity and were quite inspired by what the Haisla were trying to do with their project and what they had accomplished with their capacity on Coastal GasLink,” said Pembina CEO Scott Burrows.

“The Haisla invited people into the project.”

The US$4 billion floating LNG export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., will have capacity to produce around three million tonnes per year of LNG for export overseas, primarily to meet growing demand in Asia.

B.C’s environmental assessment office noted Cedar LNG would have among the world’s lowest emissions, at 0.08 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of LNG.

To Smith, the increased participation of Indigenous communities in LNG projects is an opportunity to improve their quality of life.

“We’ve managed poverty in Indigenous communities for far too long, and these projects mean a change in history for a lot of these communities in terms of providing revenues back to their community to be able to provide programs and services on a completely different level than we’ve ever been used to,” said Smith.

“You think about the statistics that go along with poverty; I’ve experienced them. Suicide, alcoholism and we’ve never had any other solution. And through these projects it means hope, it means a different outlook in terms of what you’re providing your generations of today and for future generations.”

The community has already seen benefits from its relationship with LNG Canada. The project has brought the Haisla employment opportunities and the ability to invest in social programming as well as a new apartment complex and a new health centre that, for the first time, includes space for traditional healing.

Smith has said that owning Cedar LNG takes their opportunity to a new level.

With Pembina as the operator, together the partners are now focused on construction at the project site and overseeing the overseas build of the floating LNG vessel.

“Once in service we will be working, we are the big O operator, but the plan is to employ as many Haisla Nation members as possible,” said Burrows.

The project is anticipated to be in service by late 2028.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.    

Five pristine lakes sit in and around the Peerless Trout First Nation in the unbroken boreal forest of north-central Alberta about 200 kilometres north of Slave Lake.

When asked about the fishing, Tyler Letendre smiles wryly. “It lives up to the name,” says the Nation’s director of operations and economic development officer. “It’s peerless.”

The community’s leadership is exploring the idea of building a lodge to lure recreational anglers from across North America to reel in the large pike, trout and walleye that inhabit the dark blue waters in those lakes.

After joining the Clearwater Infrastructure Limited Partnership in December 2023 with 11 other Indigenous communities and Tamarack Valley Energy, they have the financial clout to develop a resort.

“Joining the partnership has been a game changer for our nation, 100 per cent. We won’t compromise on treaty rights, but we are big fans of economic growth,” says Letendre.

“The money provided by the federal government to First Nations isn’t enough to sustain the programs and infrastructure required so we have to generate our own income. Equity deals like Clearwater do that,” he says.

“We are shareholders along with major institutions. We now have banks who want to come invest in our communities. We live in a new world, and I’m excited about the possibilities.”

The Peerless Trout First Nation is located about 200 kilometres north of Slave Lake, Alberta. Photo courtesy Peerless Lake First Nation

The growing number and value of Indigenous equity ownership deals in Alberta is helping fuel stronger participation in the province’s economy, according to a recently released report from ATB Financial and MNP.

The study concluded that total Indigenous economic activity in Alberta grew by a substantial 42 per cent between 2019 and 2023.

Last year, Indigenous-owned businesses generated $5.25 billion in economic output, $380 million in tax revenues and $1.33 billion in labour income from 25,800 full-time jobs.

The resource sector has an outsized impact in this area as its relationship with First Nations and Métis communities in Alberta has evolved and grown.

“The fastest growing and largest opportunities for Indigenous communities in Alberta come from the resource sector,” says Justin Bourque, president of Âsokan Generational Developments, a consultancy that specializes in partnerships between Indigenous communities and industry.

He says the evolution of the relationship between Indigenous communities and the resource sector has mirrored the broader progress of reconciliation.

“Our entire society is on a journey of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The engagement and relationship between the resource industry and Indigenous has continued to evolve.”

In recent years, particularly following the creation of the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC) in 2019, these relationships have increasingly moved from short-term benefits to long-term legacies through equity ownership deals like Peerless Trout’s agreement with Tamarack Energy.

Justin Bourque, president of Âsokan Generational Developments, pictured on his trap line with the Long Lake oil sands facility in the background. Photo for Canadian Energy Centre

ATB highlighted the Astisiy project in the oil sands region, a Cree word meaning “thread from sinew” that is used for Indigenous beading.

In September 2021, Suncor Energy and the AIOC enabled eight Indigenous communities to acquire 15 per cent ownership of the Northern Courier Pipeline, a 90-kilometre system that transports bitumen from the Fort Hills mine to the East Tank Farm north of Fort McMurray.

The community partners are projected to receive $16 million in annual payments from the deal.

Bourque’s Willow Lake Métis Nation has used its portion of the revenues to purchase a 205-acre parcel southeast of Fort McMurray, giving the community land to call its own.

“Ownership and partnership is the next logical evolution of the relationship between Indigenous communities and the energy sector,” says Bourque.

“Before Indigenous communities had the opportunity to invest in these resource assets, a lot of the economic value out of these investments would flow to institutional investors along with the corporation,” he says.

“By having some of those benefits flow into Indigenous communities, it builds both resilience by giving them financial sovereignty and allows that community to address priorities and needs determined by them, not somebody in Ottawa.”

Opportunities are now happening at the Peerless Trout First Nation.

“Our chief and council are in the best position to decide what works for the 900 members of Peerless Lake when it comes to how to invest the monies from the partnership, whether that’s in housing, education, health care, more post-secondary scholarships or building a hockey arena or community facility,” Letendre says.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

The recent approval of the first compressed natural gas facility in the Northwest Territories is bringing energy security one step closer to remote and Indigenous communities in Canada’s north. 

The Inuvialuit Energy Security Project (IESP), owned by the Inuvialuit Regional Corp. , will be located 16 kilometres south of Tuktoyaktuk. The project, recently approved by the Canadian Energy Regulator, will convert natural gas into compressed natural gas (CNG), propane, and diesel for the Inuvialuit Settlement region. 

“The whole project is for the purpose of addressing the energy security issue that many northerners face, but particularly northerners that are at the end of a very long road,” said Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation special advisor Kate Darling. 

The natural gas will be supplied by the Tuk M-18 well, which is also owned by the Inuvialuit, and transported to local customers for power, heat, and fuel. 

Currently, the region is serviced by the Inuvik Gas Project (natural gas from two wells at the Ikhil reservoir, 50 kilometres northwest of Inuvik), and by truck from the south in B.C. The Ikhil wells’ reserves are now critically low, which led to the push for the IESP. The Tuk M-18, however, is estimated to have more than 100 years’ worth of reserves. 

 About 200,000 people in Canada have no connection to an energy grid or natural gas distribution systems. This includes nearly 100,000 people in the northern territories. 

 In the Northwest Territories, refined petroleum products like diesel make up 74 per cent of end-use demand, brought in by trucks. In Inuvialuit’s case, that’s a 5,000-kilometre round trip including a ferry ride. In the past, Inuvialuit has faced potential operation disruption of the ferry service, which put the community in an emergency fuel situation. 

“[The IESP] could provide long-term energy to the communities in the region, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, creating long-term employment,” said Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. 

“It represents an Inuvialuit-led solution that takes into account the preservation of our values, advances participation in the northern and national economy, all while reducing emissions and helping preserve our local environment.” 

In addition to providing energy security for remote communities, the IESP will have a significant positive impact on emissions reduction. It is estimated it will have a net reduction of around 40,000 tonnes of emissions per year, equivalent to the yearly emissions of 9,520 cars. 

The project is also expected to support 25 full-time jobs and a further 35 full-time jobs within the local community. 

“All in all … the M-18 will really help not just the surrounding communities of Tuk, but create a lot of jobs for locals, which is very good,” said Ryan Yakeleya, a Tuktoyaktuk councillor. 

The IESP has already injected over $20 million into local businesses with over 70 Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples employed to date, according to the latest project update. 

“IPC is committed to developing the IESP and ensuring that as much of the economic benefit and employment opportunities are offered to Inuvialuit,” said Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, IRC Chair and CEO. 

The project is expected to begin producing and delivering gas to consumers by the end of 2025. 

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.