The RoadMap Project
The RoadMap Project is a practical and implementable pathway to Indigenous economic reconciliation, consistent with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Informed by discussions with First Nations across Canada, RoadMap offers realistic and impactful options to empower First Nations governments in moving past the failed one-size-fits-all approach of the colonial system.
RoadMap is about creating new, optional paths for First Nations as they move from managing poverty to generating wealth. It’s an Indigenous-led plan for achieving economic prosperity and self-determination for First Nations, while reducing risk for Canada. RoadMap solutions currently being advanced by the FMB include the Indigenous Investment Commission, the Indigenous Development Finance Organization, and the Indigenous Economic Council.
Indigenous Technical Advisory Group
The Indigenous Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) is a national association of finance and accounting professionals dedicated to supporting First Nations in Canada with the adoption and implementation of new accounting, financial reporting, and sustainability . The ITAG provides essential interpretation, guidance, and practical tools to ensure consistency in the application of new standards for all First Nations.
New Fiscal Relationship
The FMB continues to advance New Fiscal Relationship discussions with the Assembly of First Nations and Indigenous Services Canada. First Nations governments need long-term, sustainable, predictable, and flexible revenue streams and the FMB is advancing solutions for First Nations to consider.
Economic Regulator Role
Established under the FMA, the FMB supports opportunities for greater collaboration among like-minded First Nations communities that see the benefit of strength through working together. Following recent amendments to the FMA, the FMB can work with a wider range of organizations including First Nations not-for-profit organizations and tribal councils. Based on a track record of the FMB’s successful implementation of other initiatives in the past, the FMB was engaged by the AFNWA to provide economic oversight of water and wastewater service delivery.
CPA Pre-Approved Training Office
In July 2023, the FMB became the first Indigenous organization in British Columbia to be approved as a CPA Pre-Approved Training Office (PATO) by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia.
A PATO is an organization formally recognized by a provincial CPA body to provide structured and supervised practical experience that fulfills the CPA Practical Experience Requirements (PER) through the Pre-Approved Program Route (PPR).
The FMB is also recognized as a PATO by CPA bodies in Manitoba and Ontario.
Monetization to Support Infrastructure
The FMB is working with the Government of Canada and the other First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FMA) organizations to explore using different revenues for borrowing under the FMA. This is to help address the huge need for on-reserve housing, roads, schools, and other infrastructure.
If new long-term capital funding agreements could be had between the Government of Canada and First Nations, this money could be used as security to borrow from the First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA). This will allow more infrastructure projects to happen more quickly, which will create safer and healthier Nations.
First Nations Procurement Organization
The First Nations Procurement Organization (FNPO) is a new, Indigenous-led initiative created by five national Indigenous economic organizations, with the support of the Assembly of First Nations. Its goal is to remove systemic barriers that prevent First Nations businesses from accessing federal procurement opportunities, while helping Canada reach its target of at least five percent Indigenous participation in government procurement.
The FNPO brings together AFOA Canada, the Council for the Advancement of Native Development (CANDO), the First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA), the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA), and the First Nations Financial Management Board (FMB). Together, we work together to design and implement services that support certification, training, networking, and promotion for First Nations businesses, ensuring they are better positioned to compete for procurement opportunities.
By providing culturally relevant, wraparound services, the FNPO will serve as a central hub to foster stronger economic growth, support entrepreneurship, and advance economic reconciliation across First Nations communities.
First Nations Governance Project
In February of 2018, the FMB was asked by ISC to examine the characteristics of First Nations , and intergovernmental relationships, to support their transition out from under the Indian Act to a renewed Nation-to-Nation relationship.
The FMB established a partnership with the Institute on Governance (IOG), based on their recognized expertise in governance, including Indigenous governance, to help deliver on this important initiative specifically through research and analytical support.
This initiative, entitled “The First Nations Governance Project (FNGP),” involved defining how, from a governance perspective, Indigenous Peoples in Canada envision a renewed Nation-to-Nation relationship with Canada in a post-Indian Act, UNDRIP-defined environment. It began detailing questions about how UNDRIP-defined Indigenous Nations will interact with Canada and other governments.
