Drumbeats - Canadian Indigenous Investment Podcast

Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit
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WELCOME TO DRUMBEATS Drumbeats is the must-listen podcast for investors interested in Indigenous investment in Canada. Born from the Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit, the show focuses on the nexus of Indigenous economic strategies and investment opportunities. Hosts Mark Magnacca and Rob Brant, co-chairs of the Summit, lead engaging interviews and expert analyses that explore how these crucial conversations impact economic development within Indigenous communities and beyond.

  1. Jon Davey: Why Canada's Biggest Projects Can't Get Built Without Indigenous Capital

    6D AGO

    Jon Davey: Why Canada's Biggest Projects Can't Get Built Without Indigenous Capital

    For institutional investors, infrastructure fund managers, and senior advisors evaluating Canadian project opportunities, the question is no longer whether Indigenous equity participation matters - it is how the financing actually works, and what the federal government is doing to accelerate it. This episode answers both questions directly. In Part 2 of our conversation with Jonathan Davey, Managing Director of Indigenous and Government Advisory at Scotiabank's Global Banking and Markets division, we move from the biographical to the operational. Jonathan is Haudenosaunee and a member of the Lower Cayuga Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River. He brings a decade of Indigenous law practice, five years building Scotiabank's Indigenous financial services group, two years in the office of Scotiabank's President and CEO to a conversation that covers the full mechanics of Indigenous project finance in Canada today. In Part 2, Jonathan covers: Section 89 of the Indian Act - why this single provision has historically been the greatest barrier to capital access for Indigenous communities, and the leasehold financing structures and investment vehicles practitioners use to navigate itConcessionary capital - what it is, where it comes from, and how forthcoming amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act will allow the First Nations Finance Authority to provide low-cost capital directly to Indigenous special purpose vehicles for the first timeCanada's $10 billion Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation - how federal and provincial loan guarantee programmes are bringing institutional lender risk weights close to zero on qualifying transactions, and what that means for the cost of capital on major projectsThe Build Canada Act and Major Projects Office - why every project of national interest now requires Indigenous participation, what the federal permit designation programme means for project timelines, and why Jonathan describes the current moment as a massive sea changeThe investment case for partnering with Indigenous groups - beyond the financial incentives, why Jonathan argues that Indigenous business acumen, stewardship, and traditional knowledge make these partnerships operationally compelling, not just politically necessaryWhat has genuinely changed in Canada - a direct answer to the question sceptical international investors are asking, from someone who has watched the shift from inside one of Canada's largest banksThe key message for UK and European investors: the structures, programmes, and federal commitment that make Indigenous equity participation in major Canadian projects financially compelling are live now. The practitioners exist, the capital is available, and the deal flow in Jonathan's own words is unlike anything he has seen before.

    38 min
  2. Jon Davey: Why Scotiabank Bet on Canada's Indigenous Economy

    MAR 5

    Jon Davey: Why Scotiabank Bet on Canada's Indigenous Economy

    For senior investment bankers, infrastructure fund managers, and institutional investors building a picture of Canada's Indigenous economy, understanding who is driving change inside the country's major financial institutions matters as much as understanding policy. This episode gives you direct access to one of those people. Jonathan Davey is Managing Director of Indigenous and Government Advisory at Scotiabank's Global Banking and Markets division- the first role of its kind at a major Canadian bank. Haudenosaunee and a member of the Lower Cayuga Nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Jonathan spent a decade practising Indigenous law at Canada's Department of Justice before Scotiabank asked him to help build their Indigenous financial services practice. Most recently he spent two years working directly in the office of Scotiabank's President and CEO Scott Thomson before stepping into his current role. In Part 1 of this conversation, Jonathan covers: His path from Indigenous law to capital markets - why he left the Department of Justice after a decade, what Scotiabank's pitch actually was, and how a mutual investment between banker and institution built something genuinely newWhat it means to work for the Crown as an Indigenous person - Jonathan speaks candidly about the weight of representing a federal government whose decisions have historically been injurious to his community, and why moving to the private sector gave him more room to create changeTwo years in the office of Scotiabank's CEO - what Jonathan observed about leadership at the highest level of a major Canadian financial institution, and how Scott Thomson's approach to Indigenous relationships shaped the bank's directionCedar Leaf Capital - how client demand from a single procurement-focused corporate client led Scotiabank to help establish Canada's first Indigenous-owned investment dealer, and why Jonathan considers it one of the bank's proudest achievementsThe collegiality driving Canada's Indigenous finance ecosystem- why practitioners across competing institutions, law firms, and advisory businesses are actively supporting each other's successThe key message for UK and European investors: the infrastructure of Indigenous participation in Canadian capital markets is being built right now, from the inside, by people like Jonathan Davey. This episode introduces you to how that happened and who is doing it.

    24 min
  3. Tracee Smith: The On-Reserve Lending Gap and the Private Credit Opportunity

    FEB 26

    Tracee Smith: The On-Reserve Lending Gap and the Private Credit Opportunity

    Canada has a housing crisis in its Indigenous communities that has run for fifty years. The federal government's social housing programme - capped at $150 million annually - produces fewer than one home per community per year across 630 First Nations. The major banks, operating on policies written in the 1960s, have largely refused to lend on-reserve. And yet the infrastructure, the legal frameworks, and the investor appetite to solve this problem exist today. Tracee Smith, President and CEO of Keewaywin Capital Inc., is the private credit fund manager who is stepping into that gap and building a compelling investment case in the process. A Missinaibi Cree entrepreneur, former Bay Street lender, and founder of the nationally recognised Outside Looking In youth charity, Tracee brings a rare combination of community credibility and institutional financial fluency to an underserved market. Keewaywin's model is methodical: advance construction capital to First Nations communities, partner with CMHC's Section 95 social housing programme as a near-guaranteed takeout mechanism, and deploy funds at the point where traditional lenders refuse to go - the design-to-completion construction phase. In this episode, Rob Brant speaks with Tracee about: Why Canada's major banks have structurally failed on-reserve communities - and why that represents a private credit opportunityHow Keewaywin's partnership with CMHC provides investors with a near-sovereign-backed repayment structureThe fund's first major deployment: a $25 million deal in Manitoba delivering 30 modular homes and infrastructure for 200 unitsWhy UK and European pension capital is beginning to look seriously at Indigenous private credit fundsThe systemic policy failures - from siloed government programmes to discriminatory lending practices - that make private capital essentialFor UK and continental European institutional investors, Keewaywin represents something increasingly rare: a private credit fund with quantifiable social impact, a defined security structure, and access to a Canadian market that remains almost entirely overlooked by international capital.

    43 min
  4. $200M Indigenous Growth Strategy: Scaling Beyond Oil Sands with Nicole Bourque-Bouchier

    FEB 19

    $200M Indigenous Growth Strategy: Scaling Beyond Oil Sands with Nicole Bourque-Bouchier

    Canada Indigenous business growth, oil sands investment opportunities, and Truth and Reconciliation economic impact explained by Nicole Bourque, CEO of Bouchier Group. UK and European investors gain insight into how a $200M Indigenous-owned industrial company is scaling, winning ExxonMobil recognition, and building institutional-grade growth platforms. Part 2 explores how Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission became an unexpected catalyst for Indigenous business competitiveness, unlocking new commercial pathways for Indigenous-owned companies operating at scale. In this continuation of our conversation, Nicole discusses Bouchier's transformation: • Nicole explains how Bouchier Group integrated Indigenous identity with operational excellence. • Nicole reveals why her company achieved 25% growth in peak years and why she's now deliberately slowing to 5% growth at the $200 million threshold to explore diversification beyond oil sands. • What international investors misunderstand about Indigenous partnerships in Canada’s resource economy. An Indigenous female CEO whose company proves Indigenous-led businesses succeed on merit, alliances, and good partnerships. ABOUT NICOLE BOURQUE: Nicole Bourque serves as CEO and Co-owner of The Bouchier Group, one of Canada's largest Indigenous-owned companies with $200+ million annual revenues, 1,400 employees from nearly 100 First Nations, and major contracts with CNRL, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy. Recent recognition: December 2024 Member of the Order of Canada, December 2024 ExxonMobil International Diverse Supplier Award CHAPTERS 00:00 - Why UK and European investors are re-evaluating Indigenous partnerships in Canada 00:13 - Scaling a $200M Indigenous-owned industrial services company in Canada’s oil sands 00:45 - Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a catalyst for institutional investment 01:48 - Indigenous culture, ESG, and operating in Canada’s energy and infrastructure sectors 04:50 - Competing on commercial merit: Indigenous enterprises and global capital expectations 08:53 - ExxonMobil’s global supplier award and what it signals to international investors 10:39 - Diversification beyond Alberta: national expansion and infrastructure opportunities 12:29 - Governance, systems, and capital discipline to scale from $200M to $400M 19:03 - What UK and European investors misunderstand about Indigenous partnerships 20:15 - Lessons from a UK minority investment partnership and institutional governance 30:43 - How international investors should engage Indigenous communities in Canada 33:45 - Relationship-led capitalism as Canada’s strategic advantage in global markets

    36 min
  5. From $250K Loss to $200M Revenue: How Nicole Bourque-Bouchier Scaled Her Indigenous Business

    FEB 12

    From $250K Loss to $200M Revenue: How Nicole Bourque-Bouchier Scaled Her Indigenous Business

    In this first part of our conversation, Nicole Bourque-Bouchier walks through a story that starts with checking her company's first year-end financials on her honeymoon. After the hardest working year of her life, she scrolled to the bottom line: minus $250,000. That was 2005. Bouchier just closed 2025 at $200 million. Nicole is CEO of Bouchier, one of Canada's largest privately-owned Indigenous companies in Alberta's oil sands. She's Mikisew Cree, raised on the trapline before her father took a Syncrude job and moved the family to Fort McMurray. She worked through Syncrude, ran her own consulting business, then joined Shell - where she met David, who had a small contracting operation on the side. In 2004, they both quit their corporate jobs and went all in. Nicole admits she "didn't know what a dozer or excavator was" when she started. Everything about running this business, she taught herself. In this episode, Nicole explains: $250,000 first-year loss to $200 million, what financial discipline actually looks like Fort McKay First Nation, Finning Canada, Alberta Treasury Branch extended payment terms - still partners decades later 28-year relationships with CNRL, Suncor, Imperial Oil, how partnership economics drives client retention Self-taught CEO scaling three divisions with zero business training 99 Indigenous communities, 39% Indigenous workforce, 41% Indigenous leadership Seven Sacred Teachings in daily operations - values as performance framework $12 million community investment, zero-default performance record In December 2024, Nicole received the Order of Canada and ExxonMobil's International Diverse Supplier Award - validation that relationship-based Indigenous business models deliver sustained client retention and performance through cycles. ABOUT NICOLE BOURQUE-BOUCHIER: Nicole Bourque-Bouchier serves as CEO and Co-owner of Bouchier, one of Canada's largest Indigenous-owned companies with $200+ million annual revenues, 1,400 employees from nearly 100 First Nations, and major contracts with CNRL, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy. Recent recognition: December 2024 Member of the Order of Canada, December 2024 ExxonMobil International Diverse Supplier Award CHAPTERS 00:00 - Why Indigenous partnerships are central to Canadian natural resource and infrastructure investment 00:12 - Building one of Canada’s largest Indigenous-owned companies in the oil sands 00:51 - Global recognition: Order of Canada and ExxonMobil’s international supplier award 02:49 - Understanding Canada’s oil sands geography for UK and European investors 03:17 - Indigenous land stewardship, traditional economies, and modern resource development 07:48 - Education, oil sands entry, and early engagement between industry and First Nations 10:32 - From side business to full commitment: entrepreneurial risk in capital-intensive sectors 12:21 - Winter roads, exploration logistics, and how oil sands projects are actually built 14:25 - Long-term contracts, zero-default performance, and operational credibility 17:03 - Scaling to $200M revenue with Indigenous leadership and workforce participation 18:59 - First-year losses, capital discipline, and financial resilience 21:04 - Governance lessons every entrepreneur and investor must learn early 23:10 - Strategic partners, banks, and suppliers who enable Indigenous enterprise growth 25:35 - Expansion beyond oil sands: facility maintenance, infrastructure, and national growth 27:21 - Embedding Indigenous values into corporate culture and operational performance

    30 min
  6. Jeffery Cyr on Outcomes Funds: Impact With Global Capital Now Paying Attention

    FEB 5

    Jeffery Cyr on Outcomes Funds: Impact With Global Capital Now Paying Attention

    This episode breaks down Indigenous investment, global capital markets, outcomes financing and where the next wave of Indigenous-led impact is heading. 🎧 Jeff Cyr: Founder & Managing Partner, Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds; CEO, Raven Indigenous Impact Foundation, returns to explain how outcomes-based financing is scaling across Canada and capturing international investment attention. In Part Two, Jeff goes deeper into how Raven’s model differs from other outcomes funds in the UK, US and Australia—centering community decision-making, prioritizing Indigenous leadership on every project, and designing investments that deliver both measurable societal benefit and fair investor returns. You’ll hear how Raven’s model is: Reshaping the perception of Indigenous economies Structuring returns that look and feel like fixed-income products Attracting capital from Switzerland, Germany and the United States Scaling impact by running multiple $5–$10M investments rather than chasing mega-projects Working with governments to shift how public dollars are deployed Jeff also shares what’s coming next: A national pipeline of First Nations projects, partnerships with governments seeking to accelerate outcomes rather than react to crisis, and a growing international awareness that Indigenous-led funds are delivering both impact and market returns. Whether you’re an investor, policymaker, development leader or a member of an Indigenous community exploring capital partnerships, Part Two shows the scale of what’s possible—and why Indigenous leadership is shaping Canada’s most exciting economic opportunities.

    27 min
  7. Indigenous Outcomes Investing: Jeff Cyr’s $50M Fund, Fast Deployment & Investor Returns

    JAN 29

    Indigenous Outcomes Investing: Jeff Cyr’s $50M Fund, Fast Deployment & Investor Returns

    OUTCOMES FINANCE | INDIGENOUS INVESTMENT | COMMUNITY CAPITAL This episode breaks down how Indigenous communities are accelerating infrastructure, financing clean energy, and reshaping the investment landscape through outcomes-based financing. Guest: Jeffrey Cyr, Founder & Managing Partner, Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds. How do Indigenous Nations deploy housing, energy, and infrastructure faster while delivering investor returns and community impact? Jeffrey Cyr, Founder and Managing Partner of Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds, breaks down how outcomes-based financing moves projects out of government bottlenecks, channels capital directly into communities, creates measurable public savings, and repays investors from those savings with verified returns. Jeffrey has spent 20+ years advancing self-determination from negotiating land rights to designing policy systems, leading the National Association of Friendship Centres, and launching the first globally Indigenous-led VC firm. In this episode, Jeffrey explains: How outcomes contracts pool federal and provincial programs into scalable capital pipelinesWhy blended finance unlocks projects that foundations, private equity, or governments can’t fund aloneHow Raven structures returns (4–7%) while keeping wealth inside communitiesHow geothermal and solar projects lower housing costs, cut emissions, and keep skilled jobs localWhy Canada has become a global leader in Indigenous economic developmentWhere the next wave of investable projects will emerge housing, clean energy, health, diabetes reduction, and workforce developmentYou’ll learn why outcomes financing is more than a funding model it’s a tool for redistributing power, capital, and decision-making back to Indigenous communities. Whether you’re an Indigenous leader, policy-maker, or investor exploring Canada, the UK, the U.S., or Europe, this episode reveals how First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities are moving from surviving to thriving and what opportunities exist for aligned capital.

    27 min
  8. First Nation Partnerships in the Nuclear Supply Chain Represent a Huge Opportunity

    JAN 22

    First Nation Partnerships in the Nuclear Supply Chain Represent a Huge Opportunity

    This episode breaks down Indigenous investment strategy in Saskatchewan’s critical minerals and nuclear sector—including uranium, small modular reactors (SMRs), and Nation-owned economic development models. We explore how First Nations are securing supply chain opportunities in the mining sector, pursuing a diversified investment. Saskatchewan holds 20% of the world’s known uranium reserves and the province’s new focus of also on deploying small modular reactor is creating new opportunities in the nuclear supply chain for Indigenous-led economic development organizations. Our guest Alex Fallon, CEO of Birch Narrows Dene Nation Development Inc., explains how First Nations are partnering with mining companies like NexGen through Mutual Benefit Agreements to create investment and employment opportunities.. Alex brings a rare threefold perspective: A Saskatchewan mining sector focus with his role as CEO Birch Narrows Dene Development Inc. Knowledge and opportunities across Canada through his role as Founder & Chair of the Western Canada Economic Forum. International investment bridge-building as British Honorary Consul for Saskatchewan for the past 14 years. In this episode, we cover: How Birch Narrows Dene Nation is positioning itself beside one of Saskatchewan’s next major uranium mines Why First Nations are pursuing early-stage equity in critical minerals rather than waiting for projects to mature Lessons from the Sparrowhawk and Roal Helium MOU How loan guarantee programmes can unlock Indigenous ownership in emerging resources Saskatchewan’s fast-moving SMR roadmap, including leadership from Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation What UK and European investors should understand about working with Indigenous partners in Canada’s natural resource sectors We also explore the important role of Western Canada Economic Forum plays in bringing key stakeholders from industry, provincial government, and federal government together to spur greater collaboration across Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) in energy and mining, agriculture, and supply chain development. Whether you’re a Nation building your economic development strategy or an investor looking to partner respectfully and effectively, this episode offers clear, practical insights into where the opportunities are emerging and how Indigenous Nations are positioning to lead them.

    37 min
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About

WELCOME TO DRUMBEATS Drumbeats is the must-listen podcast for investors interested in Indigenous investment in Canada. Born from the Canadian Indigenous Investment Summit, the show focuses on the nexus of Indigenous economic strategies and investment opportunities. Hosts Mark Magnacca and Rob Brant, co-chairs of the Summit, lead engaging interviews and expert analyses that explore how these crucial conversations impact economic development within Indigenous communities and beyond.

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