By Robert Tuttle
(Bloomberg) — Canada’s First Nations are no longer relying on Bay Street to finance their growing stakes in pipelines and liquefied natural gas projects, as a new wave of Indigenous dealers participate in debt and equity deals.
First Nations Financial Markets, a majority Indigenous-owned investment dealer, was formed in September after six of Alberta’s First Nations took a majority stake in two-year-old Agentis Capital Markets. The move came less than a year after the launch of Cedar Leaf Capital Inc., majority-owned by three Indigenous shareholders, with Bank of Nova Scotia holding a 30% stake.
The trend marks a new level of deal participation for Canada’s Indigenous peoples, who were historically excluded from many economic opportunities due to discriminatory laws and policies. They make up about 5% of Canada’s population, but account for just 2.4% of the country’s gross domestic income.
Alberta’s First Nations, for example, have increasingly sought ownership of large energy-related infrastructure projects such as pipelines, power lines, LNG projects and tank storage farms. The deals have typically been financed by major Canadian banks with government backing, such as Suncor Energy Inc.’s deal with eight Indigenous nations to buy a 15% interest in Northern Courier Pipeline in 2021.
Indigenous investors are now financing these deals as well.
Since Cedar Leaf Capital earned regulatory approval last October, it’s been involved in 54 bond sales, raising more than C$41 billion ($29.4 billion). In June, the company helped manage a 30-year bond deal by the First Nation Finance Authority to fund the Haisla First Nation’s Cedar LNG project on the British Columbia coast.
Cedar Leaf also co-managed a $1 billion green bond for Ontario Power Generation Inc. and joined the bond underwriting group for Alberta’s 10-year benchmark bond reopening. The dealer is majority owned by Nch’ḵay̓ Development Limited Partnership, Des Nedhe Financial LP and Chippewas of Rama First Nation.
First Nations Financial Markets plans to be active in the fourth quarter and seeks to become “a top tier player” in Canada’s capital markets. Areas of focus will probably include oil and gas, mining, financials and industrials, Chief Executive Officer Robert Van Belle said.
“We’re at a point in time in this country where we are talking about building major projects and which will involve First Nations, and we think that we can play a major role in that,” he said.
Direct pathway
First Nations Financial Markets’ predecessor organization had worked with Indigenous groups before the six First Nations — Athabasca Chipewyan, Cold Lake, Fort McMurray 468, Heart Lake, Sawridge and Whitefish Lake #128 — bought a majority stake.
“Owning an investment dealer provides our nation — and our partner nations — a direct pathway to participate in Canada’s financial system,” said Chief Isaac Twinn of Sawridge First Nation, calling the structure “a game-changer.”
Nearly C$12 billion of capital has been paid to Indigenous communities after the Canadian government resolved historic claims with several First Nations, but it’s not easy to find managers to invest the money in ways that align with Indigenous values, according to Flowing River Capital, a Regina, Saskatchewan-based private equity firm.
In July, Flowing River acquired Four Seasons of Reconciliation, an online Indigenous awareness training platform. The deal turned the company into one that’s Indigenous owned and is now expanding into the US, CEO Thomas Benjoe said.
“We call it our Indigenization playbook,” he said. “That allows us to go out and buy essentially a non-Indigenous company, take a majority equity stake and put that company back out into market as an Indigenous-owned business that is managed and governed by our group.”
Cedar Leaf will eventually be fully Indigenous owned as well, said CEO Clint Davis, an Inuk from Labrador.
“We have timelines that we’ve put out, anywhere from three to five years,” he said. “Scotiabank has been very public about their desire to exit because the goal is to have a 100% Indigenous-owned and operated investment dealer.”
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Last modified: October 9, 2025