First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act
{{Italic title}}
{{Short description|Canadian federal legislation}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox legislation
| legislature = Parliament of Canada
| long_title = An Act respecting the regulation of commercial and industrial undertakings on reserve lands
| citation = S.C. 2005, c. 53
| image = Royal Coat of arms of Canada.svg
| imagesize = 130px
| date_assented = 2005-11-25
| 1st_reading = 2005-11-02
| 2nd_reading = 2005-11-23
| 3rd_reading = 2005-11-23
| 1st_reading2 = 2005-11-23
| 2nd_reading2 = 2005-11-25
| 3rd_reading2 = 2005-11-25
| status = in force
}}
The First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act ({{Langx|fr|Loi sur le développement commercial et industriel des premières nations}}) is an act of the Parliament of Canada designed to allow First Nations to use certain provincial regulations to use certain provincial regulations to improve the economic development within their reserves.{{Cite news |last=Kerr-Lazenby |first=Mina |date=2023-07-09 |title=Squamish Nation to use BC residential tenancy protections for own housing developments |url=https://www.nsnews.com/highlights/squamish-nation-senaqw-7253411 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712001303/https://www.nsnews.com/highlights/squamish-nation-senaqw-7253411 |archive-date=2023-07-12 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=North Shore News}}
History
When the federal government passed the act, there was relatively little media coverage.{{Cite news |date=2012-05-02 |title=How the Squamish First Nation is Reshaping Vancouver |url=https://www.vanmag.com/city/politics/how-the-squamish-first-nation-is-reshaping-vancouver/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021184621/https://www.vanmag.com/city/politics/how-the-squamish-first-nation-is-reshaping-vancouver/ |archive-date=2022-10-21 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=Vancouver Magazine}}{{Cite web |last=Tiedemann |first=Marlisa |date=2006-01-09 |title=BILL C-71: FIRST NATIONS COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ACT |url=https://lop.parl.ca/staticfiles/PublicWebsite/Home/ResearchPublications/LegislativeSummaries/PDF/38-1/c71-e.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214165752/https://lop.parl.ca/staticfiles/PublicWebsite/Home/ResearchPublications/LegislativeSummaries/PDF/38-1/c71-e.pdf |archive-date=2019-12-14 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Parliamentary Information and Research Service}}
Provisions
Application and further developments
The act helped to enable the Squamish Nation Sen̓áḵw, located near Vancouver, Canada's largest Indigenous-led housing development.{{Cite news |last=Zeidler |first=Maryse |date=2025-02-07 |title='Welcome to Sen̓áḵw': A sneak peek inside Canada's largest Indigenous-led housing development |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sen-%C3%A1%E1%B8%B5w-sneak-preview-1.7451499 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209184149/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sen-%C3%A1%E1%B8%B5w-sneak-preview-1.7451499 |archive-date=2025-02-09 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=CBC News}}
In 2017, the federal government passed a law under the act applying provincial mining regulationson the relevant project lands.{{Cite news |last=Quesnel |first=Joseph |date=2019-01-30 |title=It's time for governments to recognize the value of partnerships with First Nations |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-its-time-for-governments-to-recognize-the-value-of-partnerships-with/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131103805/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-its-time-for-governments-to-recognize-the-value-of-partnerships-with/ |archive-date=2019-01-31 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=The Globe and Mail}} The act enabled the Muskowekwan First Nation in Saskatchewan to allow the Encanto Potash to develop a mine.{{Cite news |last=Scales |first=Marilyn |date=2017-06-01 |title=Historic deal ensures First Nations participation in new potash mine |url=https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/featured-article/historic-deal-ensures-first-nations-participation-new-potash-mine/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928052442/https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/featured-article/historic-deal-ensures-first-nations-participation-new-potash-mine/ |archive-date=2021-09-28 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=Canadian Mining Journal}}
The act facilitated the Resolute Forest Products Fort William First Nation to allow Resolute Forest Products to develop a sawmill.{{Cite news |date=2020-09-02 |title=Resolute Thunder Bay sawmill reaches a milestone (2 Photos) |url=https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/resolute-thunder-bay-sawmill-reaches-a-milestone-2-photos-2682973 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903075037/https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/resolute-thunder-bay-sawmill-reaches-a-milestone-2-photos-2682973 |archive-date=2020-09-03 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=TB News Watch}}