Empowering First Nations Communities in Canada: 
First Nations Major Projects Coalition's Initiative for 
Indigenous-Led Assessments

In 2024, the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) launched a sophisticated initiative aimed at empowering Indigenous communities to take an active role in environmental and impact assessments (IA). This initiative combines research, community-led learning tools, and practical strategies to ensure First Nations across Canada have the resources and training to lead assessments on their terms.

Here are some of the highlights FNMPC has achieved through its Environmental Stewardship Technical Team:

• Widely available tools and resources. First Nations communities across Canada now have access to a vast range of free digital and print tools. These resources prioritize Indigenous worldviews, centering consent-based decision-making, community readiness and Nation-specific stewardship approaches in environmental and impact assessments.
• Impact assessment training programs. FNMPC partnered with the Anishinabek Nation to pilot and deliver the IA 201, a 2-day intermediate training workshop designed to equip Indigenous Nations, practitioners, and stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed for effective participation in impact assessments of major projects. They also have a draft, pilot, and advanced virtual IA 301 session, which aims to dive deeper into assessment insights and other topics. This second workshop will be launched in the coming months.
• Storytelling for awareness. The short video content (in 60-90-second formats), filmed in Saik’uz First Nation territory, is part of a wider campaign to increase awareness, inspire dialogue, and promote advocacy for First Nation cultural rights in the context of infrastructure, energy, and resource development. It challenges outdated consultation practices and highlights the risks of ignoring Indigenous standards and values when planning on traditional and treaty territories.
• Guide to Indigenous-led Assessments. This Guide and backgrounder identify considerations for Indigenous groups that are contemplating whether to engage in an Indigenous-led assessment. It outlines a variety of approaches and practical strategies to support a successful undertaking, while acknowledging that Nations are at different stages of readiness and capacity. The guide offers a step-by-step framework, providing practical strategies for Indigenous communities across Canada to carry out their own impact assessments based on the capacity and supports available to them. It also includes foundational information, including background information on Indigenous-led assessments through both a federal and provincial lens. Developed in partnership with Firelight, FNMPC plans to release this resource in Spring 2026.
• Community-centered approach. FNMPC updated the Terms of Reference of the Indigenous Environmental Technical Advisory Committee to reflect the grassroots perspectives of its members on workshop design, research topics, and strategic direction. This will ensure that the input from members with lived knowledge and expertise shapes their workshops and research projects, anchoring the work of the Environmental Services Department in the community.
• Dedicated First Nations membership support. FNMPC hired Felicity Rose Chitty (from Alderville First Nation) as their Environmental Services Manager, increasing the capacity of FNMPC to address the specific needs and concerns of their members through dedicated staff and services.

From grassroots input to national governance strategies, FNMPC continues to model how First Nations can drive meaningful change in how assessments are designed, delivered, and understood.

About

First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) is a national non-profit organization established in March 2017 by First Nations for First Nations. FNMPC provides First Nation members with access to tools, knowledge, and advice used to make free, prior, and informed business decisions about First Nation involvement and participation in major natural resource and infrastructure projects. FNMPC supports the economic, environmental, and public policy interests of members in a non-political and business-focused way.