Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit 2026
Date: Wed, 8 Apr - Thu, 9 Apr 2026
Time: 8:00 - 18:00
Canada is heading into a strong investment period. Over the next five years, it is expected to rank second-best among the G20 for doing business, and it has remained in the global top ten in recent years. Canada’s economy is steady and well-run, which makes it attractive to UK and global investors.
Right now, four sectors are getting serious attention: Energy, Infrastructure, Mining, and Arctic Defence. These areas have billion-pound potential and are shaping what comes next for Canada’s growth.
The Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit helps investors and decision-makers understand what is happening in these sectors and why it matters. We bring together UK and global investors, asset managers, companies, shareholders, and policymakers to share clear information and real perspectives. We also make sure Indigenous investment is part of the conversation and gets the focus it deserves.
For the past three years, our goal has been simple: give investors more options to explore and build stronger links with Indigenous-led and Indigenous-partnered opportunities.
On 8th April 2026, we will bring together industry leaders and experts with first-hand experience of this market. They have researched Indigenous investment, worked across the sector, and helped shape its growth. This dialogue will provide clear, practical insight and real-world examples that investors can apply with confidence to understand Indigenous investment and take informed action.
On 8th April 2026, we will bring together industry leaders and experts with first-hand experience of this market. They have researched Indigenous investment, worked across the sector, and helped shape its growth. This dialogue will provide clear, practical insight and real-world examples that investors can apply with confidence to understand Indigenous investment and take informed action.
Register to attend and be part of an important conversation shaping the future of Indigenous investment in Canada.
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Co-Chairs
Arctic-Defence
How Government Policy and Indigenous Led Financial Institutions Are Making Indigenous Defence Investment Bankable
Arctic Defence
Panel Discussion
Canada has built the financing architecture for Indigenous Arctic defence: $10 billion in loan guarantees, investment-grade credit facilities with zero defaults, and mandatory Indigenous procurement across federal contracts. This panel explains how these mechanisms are turning Arctic defence into one of Canada's most bankable infrastructure categories.
Inuit Sovereignty Is Canada's Sovereignty: Why $38 Billion In Arctic Defence Spending Requires Indigenous Partnership
Arctic Defence
Panel Discussion
Canada is making its largest defence investment in decades, with $38 billion committed to Arctic infrastructure through 2030. Inuit land claims cover the entire Canadian Arctic, meaning every surveillance system, port, and airfield requires Inuit partnership. For anyone exploring the future of northern defence and how it gets built, this panel explains the jurisdictional reality and the partnerships that make it possible.
Who Controls Canada's Arctic Port: The Indigenous-Led Megaproject Rewriting Northern Infrastructure
Arctic Defence
Case Study
Panel Discussion
A panel discussion exploring how the Tłı̨chǫ Investment Corporation and Det’on Cho Group became co-coordinators of the Arctic Security Corridor, a federally backed 1 billion dollar project linking Yellowknife to Canada’s first deepwater Arctic port at Grays Bay.
Underwriting the Yukon: How Indigenous Procurement Structures Reduce Execution Risk
Arctic Defence
Case Study
The Yukon's project pipeline is real. Delivering it requires local capacity and procurement pathways that work in a constrained northern market. The Yukon First Nation Chamber of Commerce and its Business Registry link verified Indigenous businesses to government bid measures, set-asides, and direct contracting. This is the infrastructure that turns pipeline into delivery.
Energy
Why Indigenous Energy Projects Have Never Been More Investible
Energy
Panel Discussion
Cedar LNG built housing, employment, and infrastructure into a $3.4 billion project not to tick ESG boxes, but to eliminate regulatory risk. Alberta's Indigenous loan guarantee program has issued $745 million with zero defaults on the same logic. This session examines why community outcomes are becoming the differentiator for Indigenous energy projects that attract institutional capital.
When Indigenous Nations Own the Land: Why Treaty Authority Makes $10 Billion LNG Projects Bankable
Energy
Panel Discussion
The Ksi Lisims LNG project has Shell, TotalEnergies, and Blackstone as partners, with construction expected this year. With global LNG demand forecast to accelerate through 2026 and beyond, this session examines why treaty-based Indigenous ownership gave the $10 billion project a regulatory pathway that other Canadian LNG projects couldn't access, and what that structure means for those looking for reliable LNG supply without the geopolitical risk.
Is Canada the energy superpower Europe needs?
Energy
Panel Discussion
Europe needs long-term energy supply. Canada has the scale, the institutions, and the projects. But every major Canadian energy opportunity, from LNG to hydrogen to transmission, follows the same pattern: the ones moving forward have Indigenous equity partnerships, and the ones stalled do not.
Canada's Largest Battery Storage: Six Nations' $2 Billion Energy Transition Portfolio
Energy
Case Study
250 MW. 1.0 GWh. A 20-year capacity contract with Ontario's grid operator. Canada's largest operating battery facility has Six Nations of the Grand River as an equity owner. And Oneida is just one asset in SNGRDC's growing portfolio across storage, solar, and wind, as Ontario scales bigger.
Infrastructure
Canada's Infrastructure Corridors: Meet The Chiefs Who Are Taking Ownership
Infrastructure
Panel Discussion
The pipelines, ports, and railways that move Canadian resources to global markets increasingly have Indigenous majority owners. The Chiefs on this panel hold significant equity stakes in these corridors, and understanding their role is now essential for anyone looking at Canadian infrastructure and the opportunities within it.
Why Institutional Capital Is Repricing Canadian Projects Around Governance, Ownership, and Execution Confidence
Infrastructure
Panel Discussion
Over $45 billion in Indigenous-partnered projects are advancing toward construction across Canada. The financing architecture behind them now includes billion-dollar public loans, federal equity initiatives, and private debt funds purpose-built for Indigenous ownership. Three years ago, none of this existed at scale. Now, institutional investors are building their models around it.
Mining
The Mining Sector Is Finding New Ways to Provide Meaningful Opportunities for Indigenous Participation from Equity to Procurement
Mining
Panel Discussion
Northern Ontario is sitting on $60 billion in nickel, copper, and chromite, critical minerals the world needs for the energy transition. After years of gridlock, Indigenous partnerships are emerging as the critical factor speeding projects toward development, and this session examines what that means for investors looking at Canada's largest undeveloped mineral deposit.
From Veto to Value: How Indigenous Co-Governance De-Risked Canada's Largest Copper Investment
Mining
Case Study
Panel Discussion
A case study and panel discussion examining how Teck Resources and the Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly transformed regulatory and social risk into investment certainty at Highland Valley Copper. This session explores how Indigenous co-governance reshaped approvals, timelines, and confidence in capital.
The Kitsaki Model: Building a $100M+ Indigenous Investment Portfolio That Delivers Community Benefits and Commercial Returns
Mining
Case Study
Panel Discussion
Most Indigenous economic development stories focus on single projects. Kitsaki built a portfolio. Spanning transportation, environmental services, engineering, manufacturing, and forestry, Lac La Ronge Indian Band's economic arm has reached $180 million in consolidated revenue, with profits flowing back into community distributions and reinvestment. The governance model behind it is what signals to institutional capital evaluating Canadian infrastructure.
How Kitsaki Built a 44-Year Indigenous Ownership Model Across Saskatchewan's Resource Economy
Mining
Fireside Chat
1981, Lac La Ronge Indian Band started hauling gravel at a uranium mine. Forty-four years later, its economic arm Kitsaki runs a multi-million dollar portfolio spanning underground mining, environmental consulting, and logistics, holding contracts with Cameco, Orano, Nutrien, NexGen, and Foran Mining. What does 44 years of unbroken Indigenous commercial ownership look like across successive commodity cycles? This fireside chat walks through how it was built.
Headline Sponsor
Major Partner Plus
Partners
Supporting Partners
Chief Bruce Achneepineskum
Chief, Marten Falls First Nation
Chief, Marten Falls First Nation
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Patrick Breithaupt
Managing Director & Co-Head, Scotiabank
Managing Director & Co-Head, Scotiabank
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Hon. Greg Rickford
Minister, Indigenous Affairs and Ring of Fire Partnerships, Ontario Government
Minister, Indigenous Affairs and Ring of Fire Partnerships, Ontario Government
Hillary Thatcher
Managing Director, Investments: Indigenous & Northern Infrastructure, CIB
Managing Director, Investments: Indigenous & Northern Infrastructure, CIB
