Steven Crombie
Special to Ontario Construction News
Few projects in Canadian history carry the economic, strategic and nation-building significance of Ontario’s Ring of Fire.
The development of Northern Ontario’s critical mineral deposits has the potential to strengthen Canada’s economy, secure North American supply chains, support the global energy transition and create thousands of high quality jobs. It also presents one of the most significant opportunities for economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities in a generation.
The Ring of Fire will not move forward without Indigenous communities as genuine partners.
That is not simply a legal reality. It is an economic necessity.
The question facing governments, however, is not whether Indigenous communities should participate. They absolutely must.
The question is how public policy can ensure that Indigenous participation creates lasting prosperity while delivering the complex infrastructure Canada needs.
That distinction matters.
Much of the public discussion surrounding reconciliation has become focused on procurement, who receives the contract, what percentage of ownership exists within a joint venture, or whether work is awarded through sole-source arrangements or Indigenous procurement requirements.
While these approaches are intended to increase Indigenous participation, procurement alone is not the same as economic development.
Nor is it necessarily the best way to build long-term Indigenous capacity.
Delivering the infrastructure required to unlock the Ring of Fire, including all-season roads, transmission corridors, bridges, airfields and supporting infrastructure is among the most technically demanding work undertaken anywhere in Canada. These projects require sophisticated estimating, engineering, project management, financing, environmental compliance, safety systems, heavy equipment fleets and experienced supervisory personnel developed over decades.
While many Indigenous businesses have developed impressive capabilities across a range of construction and infrastructure sectors, and that capacity will hopefully continue to grow.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that projects of this scale require specialized experience that has historically been developed through years of delivering major civil infrastructure. Public policy should acknowledge that reality and focus on accelerating Indigenous capacity so that more Indigenous businesses are positioned to compete for these projects in the future.
Governments should also be mindful that procurement models which substantially reduce competition or rely primarily on mandatory participation structures rather than demonstrated project delivery capability can create unintended consequences.
Competition drives innovation, controls costs, improves quality and protects taxpayers.
Capability reduces project risk.
These principles remain just as important on projects intended to advance reconciliation as they are on any other nationally significant infrastructure investment.
The objective should therefore not be to choose between reconciliation and competitive procurement.
Canada needs both.
The Ring of Fire provides an opportunity to create procurement models that encourage meaningful Indigenous participation while rewarding demonstrated capability, fostering knowledge transfer and developing long-term Indigenous businesses.
Governments should place greater emphasis on rewarding proponents that commit to measurable Indigenous workforce development, apprenticeships, leadership training, supplier development, equipment investment, business mentorship and genuine knowledge transfer between experienced contractors and Indigenous partners.
The goal should be to leave behind Indigenous owned construction companies that are stronger at the end of the project than they were at the beginning.
Success should not be measured solely by the percentage of Indigenous participation listed on bid documents.
Success should be measured by how many Indigenous project managers, engineers, estimators, equipment operators, environmental professionals, executives and business owners are leading infrastructure projects ten and twenty years from now.
That is the legacy Canada should seek.
The Ring of Fire is more than a mining project.
It is a nation-building project.
Its success depends upon durable partnerships between governments, Indigenous communities and industry. Those partnerships must create meaningful economic participation while ensuring that nationally significant infrastructure is delivered safely, competitively and efficiently.
If we get the policy right, the Ring of Fire will do more than unlock critical minerals.
It will create a new generation of Indigenous businesses capable of competing across Canada’s infrastructure sector, strengthen Northern Ontario’s economy, improve project delivery, and leave a lasting legacy of prosperity for Indigenous communities.
Reconciliation is not measured by the number of contracts awarded.
It is measured by the enduring capacity that remains long after construction is complete.
That is the opportunity before us.
Canada should seize it.
Steven Crombie is senior director, public affairs at the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA).
