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Indigenous Markets

This transcript has been generated using machine learning technology. While this technology was trained with CIBC terminology, it may contain errors.
Question: What can we expect in 2026 in regards to the Indigenous economy?
Jaimie Lickers, Senior Vice-President, Indigenous Markets: 2026 proves to be another exciting year, as we expect to see the growth of Indigenous led asset management strategies across the country, we expect to see more activities from firms like Cedar Leaf Capital, Longhouse Capital and additionally, I think we&#8217;ll all welcome the announcement of new and exciting deals being backed by the Canadian Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program.
Question: Where are you seeing the biggest growth and development in the Indigenous economy right now?
Jaimie Lickers: We&#8217;re seeing two significant areas of growth for the Indigenous economy in Canada right now, and those areas are in infrastructure and clean energy. Recent statistics indicate that over 80% of renewable energy projects happening in Canada currently have some form of Indigenous ownership or are being advanced through the use of joint ventures, which include Indigenous partners. And of course, those projects include all forms of renewable energy in wind, solar, electricity transmission, and even battery storage facilities. The push for a green economy in Canada has positioned Indigenous communities in a way that they can play a prominent role in these developments and the greening of our economy, because they are the largest owners of energy assets next to Crown Utilities in our country. And on the infrastructure side, we, of course, are hearing a lot about the infrastructure gap in Canada &#8211; a lot of that infrastructure needs to be built on and in Indigenous communities, so they&#8217;re well positioned to help fill that infrastructure gap, both in their communities and on their traditional territory.
Question: How would you gauge the success of the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program so far?
Jaimie Lickers: The Canadian Indigenous Loan Guarantee program was obviously a long fought journey for organizations like the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, and an initiative that CIBC played a key role in advancing. And we, of course, celebrated the launch of that program last year. This year, we saw the inaugural transaction in May and the first guarantee issued under the Canadian Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which was a guarantee for $400 million to a partnership of 36 First Nations in British Columbia, which supported their acquisition of 12.5% of Enbridge&#8217;s West Coast natural gas pipeline system. That was, of course, a welcome transaction. CIBC was proud to act as the lead financial advisor on that inaugural transaction under the Federal Loan Guarantee Program, and as a result of that work, we have developed a great relationship working with the team at the CILGC. Through our discussions with the CILGC, we understand that there is a robust pipeline of applications and transactions that they are looking at for the use of the guarantee program. I think, of course, we&#8217;d all like to see things move a bit faster. We&#8217;d like to see a few additional transactions moving through that guarantee program to the benefit of First Nations across the country.
Question: Where do First Nations fit into the plan for infrastructure projects as set out by the Federal Major Projects Office?
Jaimie Lickers: This is a bit of a controversial question at the moment. There&#8217;s a wide range of perspectives on the new Major Projects Office, the push to move projects forward in a faster and purportedly more efficient manner. Of course, we&#8217;ve seen the establishment and announcement of an Indigenous Advisory Council that will oversee the work of the Major Projects Office. We&#8217;ve also seen Prime Minister Carney indicate that he would like to see more First Nations led projects being approved by the Major Projects Office, like the LNG Project in British Columbia, which is supported by many of the local First Nations. And I think that&#8217;s going to play a central role in the projects that we see moving forward, moving smoothly through completion, under this new push for major projects in Canada. Indigenous support is going to be key to which of those projects proceed smoothly and successfully.
Question: Tell us about the growth of asset management within the Indigenous economy.
Jaimie Lickers: We are seeing an explosion of Indigenous asset management opportunities in Canada, as Indigenous communities continue to see a massive transition of wealth, whether that&#8217;s through the settlement of litigation or the generation of open source revenues through economic development activity and resource revenue sharing agreements. And this has led to major developments in financial institutions and investment institutions that are actually Indigenous owned and Indigenous led. Of course, in the last year, we&#8217;ve seen the launch of Cedar Leaf Capital, which is the first Indigenous owned and led investment dealer in Canada. Recently, Cedar Leaf was included in the First Nations finance authorities syndicate to issue a 30 year bond for $350 million to finance the Haisla Nation’s equity ownership in a floating LNG facility. We&#8217;ve also seen the announcement just this fall of the creation of the First Nations Financial Markets institution, which was created in September of 2025 by a partnership of six Alberta First Nations that acquired a majority stake in an existing investment dealer known as Agentis Capital Markets. And, of course, we have Longhouse Capital Partners, an organization that CIBC is proud to support, which is an Indigenous owned alternative asset manager and strategic advisory firm. We&#8217;re seeing more developments as well among major financial institutions and their investment management and asset management arms that are incorporating Indigenous people and values in the products and services that they offer. We&#8217;re seeing a push to develop Indigenous specific investment teams within those institutions, the hiring of Indigenous CFAs and the tailoring of asset management products to address the specific needs and reflect the values of Indigenous people across Canada.

Indigenous Markets year in review and look-ahead to 2026

Indigenous Markets

Jaimie Lickers

Senior Vice-President, Indigenous Markets

CIBC Commercial Banking