Question Period Note: Economic prosperity

• Our Government works with Indigenous businesses and communities to promote long-term prosperity and job and wealth creation.

• We support capacity-building and empowering communities; unlocking land and resources; and improving access to business capital.

• Our programs and services support community economic planning, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and Indigenous financial institutions.

• We will continue to work with Indigenous partners, other governments and the private sector, to increase the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian economy.

Economic prosperity - Access to Capital
The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program
• The federal Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program (AEP) (annual budget of $34 million) plays an essential role in helping Indigenous entrepreneurs with small and medium-sized businesses access affordable business capital.
• It does this by providing Indigenous entrepreneurs with equity (non-repayable contributions) and business support services (such as help writing a business plan) so they can qualify for affordable loans. It also offsets costs for Indigenous lenders so they can remain viable.
• The program has been devolved to Indigenous partners since 2015 and is rapidly moving towards distinctions-based delivery.
o The program is delivered by the cross-Canada network of 54 Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFI) and five Métis Capital Corporations (MCCs).
o In 2015, the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) began to administer the program.
o In 2019, five Métis Capital Corporations (MCCs) began to administer Métis-specific components of the program for themselves.
o In 2021-22, ISC is working with the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to address the priorities of Inuit-led Aboriginal Financial Institutions.
• The program has a proven record of success, issuing 46,000 loans, worth $2.75 billion in the past three decades and maintaining a 95% repayment rate.
• From April 2018 to March 2020, Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFI) and Métis Capital Corporations (MCCs) extended 3,639 loans worth almost $387.4 million to Indigenous businesses across the country. The loans either created or maintained over 10,914 full-time jobs. (NACCA’s 2018-2020 Annual Report).

The Indigenous Growth Fund

• The new $150 million Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF), announced in Budget 2019 and launched in the fall of 2021, is managed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA). It is an Indigenous-led impact investing fund that will support more Indigenous entrepreneurs than has been possible under existing measures for small and medium-sized Indigenous businesses.
• Co-developed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Indigenous Growth Fund has been designed to connect private investors to Indigenous businesses to improve their access to affordable capital and to facilitate their long-term sustainable growth.
• The first close of the Indigenous Growth Fund was completed on March 31, 2021, and included $50 million from the federal government, $50 million from the Business Development Bank of Canada, $35 million from Export Development Canada, and $15 million from Farm Credit Canada.
• These investments from institutional investors demonstrate a concrete commitment to economic reconciliation, and a crucial step on the path to prosperity for Indigenous peoples.
• The Indigenous Growth Fund is now operational. It is expected that it will be fully utilized within the first five to six years when the Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFI) and Métis Capital Corporations (MCCs), through which it will be accessed, are expected to double the size of their loan portfolios, increasing them by $75 million and providing loans to about 500 additional Indigenous businesses annually.

• The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program, administered by Indigenous partners, increases access to capital for Indigenous entrepreneurs with small and medium-sized businesses.

• The Indigenous Growth Fund, launched in November 2021, is an Indigenous-led fund that will attract private capital and will be an important support for Indigenous businesses going forward.

• Recent changes introduced include amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, First Nations Land Management Act, and the Addition of Lands to Reserves and Reserve Creation Act.

• These amendments will spur economic growth and enable First Nations-led fiscal institutions to support more First Nations and First Nation organizations with fiscal management, taxation and access to long-term financing.