IEM is Live: Tracking Indigenous Participation in Canada's Energy and Resource Sectors
- IEM
- Jun 14
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 13
Why Transparent Project Data Is Critical to Reconciliation and Better Outcomes
Indigenous participation in Canada’s energy and resource sectors is growing, but access to the data that tells us how, where, and under what terms that participation is happening remains limited.
Despite high-level commitments to reconciliation, equity ownership, and benefit-sharing, the specifics of these arrangements are often hidden behind scattered press releases, regulatory filings, or confidential agreements. This lack of transparency makes it harder for communities, companies, and governments to make informed decisions, evaluate partnerships, or track progress toward economic reconciliation.
At Indigenous Energy Monitor (IEM), we’re working to change that.
The Problem: We Know Partnerships and Particpation Exist—But Not Where or How
While many public statements highlight Indigenous engagement in resource and energy development, the details are elusive. For example:
What percentage of ownership do Indigenous partners hold in a given project?
What resource payments are being made to Indigenous governments?
What agreements have been signed and what do they include?
Right now, answers to these questions are fragmented and difficult to verify:
Data is scattered across regulatory filings, corporate websites, and news releases.
Information is often incomplete or released only once without follow-up.
Communities and companies lack tools to benchmark agreements or identify best practices.
The result? A patchwork understanding of Indigenous participation that limits accountability, inhibits collaboration, and delays progress.
Why This Data Matters
Transparent data is not just a technical issue—it’s a critical enabler of stronger, more equitable partnerships:
For Indigenous governments and economic development organizations, it supports better dealmaking, opporunity identification, benchmarking, and strategic planning.
For industry proponents, it helps reduce uncertainty and spotlight successful models of engagement.
For policymakers and regulators, it provides evidence-based oversight and ensures commitments to reconciliation are more than symbolic.
Transparency builds trust, and trust builds better outcomes.
Our Solution: A Platform for Transparency
IEM was built to close this gap. We provide centralized, reliable, and accessible data and tools that illuminate Indigenous participation in Canada’s resource sectors:
✅ Indigenous Energy Ownership Tracker (IEOT)
Tracks all known projects across power, oil and gas, mining, carbon, critical minerals, and fuels with Indigenous equity ownership. Discover hundreds of Indigenous-owned projects across Canada with associated details.
✅ Indigenous Resource Payment Tracker (IRPT)
Aggregates all available ESTMA payment disclosures to Indigenous governments from extractive companies since 2017. Discover billions of dollars of payment flows from companies to Indigenous groups for the development of natural resources in Canada.
Both tools are built with clarity in mind - interactive dashboards, downloadable datasets, and verified sources ensure that the data is not only available, but actionable.
✅ Insights, Thought Leadership, and Consulting Services
Beyond data, we provide insight-driven analysis and consulting support to help stakeholders navigate the evolving landscape of Indigenous participation:
Custom Research and Reports
Strategic consulting
Content and Thought Leadership
Stay Informed, Get Involved
Whether you’re an Indigenous economic development group looking to evaluate opportunities, or a project developer seeking Indigenous partners, IEM's transparency and data are essential.
🔗 Explore our solutions: www.indigenousenergymonitor.ca
📩 Contact us: info@indigenousenergymonitor.ca
