Support Canada by buying into thriving Indigenous economy: Senator Prosper
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The looming spectre of a trade war with the United States has unlocked a new level of patriotism among many Canadians, and a desire to support Canadian businesses.
There have also been calls to insulate the Canadian economy by diversifying our trade portfolio and breaking down interprovincial trade barriers.
But there is yet another source of underused economic potential: Indigenous-owned businesses.
Canada stands on Indigenous ancestral lands, and so our businesses are structured to support our homeland; there is no hidden American conglomerate propping us up. To buy Indigenous is to buy Canadian.
It’s not just a symbolic choice. Canada estimated its Indigenous economy to be worth around $56.1 billion in 2021, and Statistics Canada has noted that the Indigenous economy is “outpacing growth in the total economy.”
Supporting Indigenous businesses has beneficial international effects, as well.
In 2021, Canada became one of four countries to endorse the Indigenous Peoples Economic Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA), alongside Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. Collectively, these four countries are known as “participating economies.”
One of IPETCA’s objectives is to encourage the participating economies to facilitate “trading relationships with, between, and among Indigenous Peoples.”
To understand how significant IPETCA could be, we need only look at the estimated Indigenous economies of the participating countries.
For instance, New Zealand estimates the Māori economy to be worth approximately NZ$75 billion (C$60.65 billion), while Australia estimates the value of its Indigenous economy to be AU$10 billion annually (C$8.97 billion).
Despite this extraordinary potential boost to our income-based gross domestic product, IPETCA is not widely known in Indigenous business circles, nor has there been significant action on Canada’s part.
In a recent meeting with some Indigenous business leaders, only one organization had ever heard of IPETCA, and one group noted its surprise that this arrangement had not been mentioned during a recent symposium organized by Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business focused on boosting Indigenous trade and exports.
IPETCA should be an important part of the Canadian response to American trade threats given its economic significance and the opportunity it brings to deepen ties with non-U.S. trading partners.
Meanwhile, Indigenous voices should also feature prominently in discussions to reduce internal trade barriers.
I agree with the sentiments expressed by Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Rebecca Bligh when she called for a co-ordinated response to potential tariffs at all levels of government.
She quite rightly points out that these tariffs would be devastating on local economies. As such, we need to ensure that municipal, Indigenous, provincial, and federal levels of government are united in our efforts to counteract the negative effects American tariffs would have on Canadian businesses.
It should also be pointed out that eliminating these trade barriers would be a boon to Indigenous nations that cross one or more provincial boundaries
While breaking down interprovincial borders would be helpful, we must acknowledge that, according to Statistics Canada, “the United States was the destination for 75.9% of Canada’s total exports, and was the source of 62.2% of Canada’s total imports.”
We are quickly learning the cost of placing too many eggs in one basket.
While the current threat of tariffs has taught our government that Canada needs to be less complacent and less reliant on our trade relationship with the U.S., the true test of a lesson learned will be in the actions taken moving forward.
We stand at the precipice of an opportunity to truly redefine the way Canadians do business domestically and internationally.
Now is the time to make use of these international instruments, to diversify our trading dance card, and to support local economies — including Indigenous businesses.
Senator PJ Prosper is a proud Mi’kmaw lawyer representing Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki). He served as chief for his home community of Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation, and later as Assembly of First Nations regional chief for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland prior to his appointment to the Senate in 2023.
This article appeared in the February 13, 2025 edition of The Hill Times.
The looming spectre of a trade war with the United States has unlocked a new level of patriotism among many Canadians, and a desire to support Canadian businesses.
There have also been calls to insulate the Canadian economy by diversifying our trade portfolio and breaking down interprovincial trade barriers.
But there is yet another source of underused economic potential: Indigenous-owned businesses.
Canada stands on Indigenous ancestral lands, and so our businesses are structured to support our homeland; there is no hidden American conglomerate propping us up. To buy Indigenous is to buy Canadian.
It’s not just a symbolic choice. Canada estimated its Indigenous economy to be worth around $56.1 billion in 2021, and Statistics Canada has noted that the Indigenous economy is “outpacing growth in the total economy.”
Supporting Indigenous businesses has beneficial international effects, as well.
In 2021, Canada became one of four countries to endorse the Indigenous Peoples Economic Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA), alongside Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan. Collectively, these four countries are known as “participating economies.”
One of IPETCA’s objectives is to encourage the participating economies to facilitate “trading relationships with, between, and among Indigenous Peoples.”
To understand how significant IPETCA could be, we need only look at the estimated Indigenous economies of the participating countries.
For instance, New Zealand estimates the Māori economy to be worth approximately NZ$75 billion (C$60.65 billion), while Australia estimates the value of its Indigenous economy to be AU$10 billion annually (C$8.97 billion).
Despite this extraordinary potential boost to our income-based gross domestic product, IPETCA is not widely known in Indigenous business circles, nor has there been significant action on Canada’s part.
In a recent meeting with some Indigenous business leaders, only one organization had ever heard of IPETCA, and one group noted its surprise that this arrangement had not been mentioned during a recent symposium organized by Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business focused on boosting Indigenous trade and exports.
IPETCA should be an important part of the Canadian response to American trade threats given its economic significance and the opportunity it brings to deepen ties with non-U.S. trading partners.
Meanwhile, Indigenous voices should also feature prominently in discussions to reduce internal trade barriers.
I agree with the sentiments expressed by Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Rebecca Bligh when she called for a co-ordinated response to potential tariffs at all levels of government.
She quite rightly points out that these tariffs would be devastating on local economies. As such, we need to ensure that municipal, Indigenous, provincial, and federal levels of government are united in our efforts to counteract the negative effects American tariffs would have on Canadian businesses.
It should also be pointed out that eliminating these trade barriers would be a boon to Indigenous nations that cross one or more provincial boundaries
While breaking down interprovincial borders would be helpful, we must acknowledge that, according to Statistics Canada, “the United States was the destination for 75.9% of Canada’s total exports, and was the source of 62.2% of Canada’s total imports.”
We are quickly learning the cost of placing too many eggs in one basket.
While the current threat of tariffs has taught our government that Canada needs to be less complacent and less reliant on our trade relationship with the U.S., the true test of a lesson learned will be in the actions taken moving forward.
We stand at the precipice of an opportunity to truly redefine the way Canadians do business domestically and internationally.
Now is the time to make use of these international instruments, to diversify our trading dance card, and to support local economies — including Indigenous businesses.
Senator PJ Prosper is a proud Mi’kmaw lawyer representing Nova Scotia (Mi’kma’ki). He served as chief for his home community of Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation, and later as Assembly of First Nations regional chief for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland prior to his appointment to the Senate in 2023.
This article appeared in the February 13, 2025 edition of The Hill Times.