A new national Leger survey sheds light on how Canadians, including Atlantic residents, view the need for healthy Indigenous businesses.
Coinciding with National Indigenous History Month, the survey probes attitudes towards Indigenous businesses in terms of creating sustainable economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and Canada’s economic growth.
The survey of 1,589 Canadians found that 80 percent of Atlantic Canadians believe that private sector support for Indigenous businesses is an important pathway to healing Canada’s relationship with Indigenous people, announced survey organizers The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) and Sodexo Canada, a food and facilities management services company.
The survey found 76 percent of Atlantic Canadians recognize the importance of thriving Indigenous businesses to the creation of sustainable economic opportunities for Indigenous people; and 80 percent of Atlantic Canadians agree Canadian corporations should include Indigenous owned and operated businesses in their supplier networks whenever possible.
“The fact that Canadians expect the private sector to step up with action to help Indigenous entrepreneurs sends a powerful message to decision makers,” said CCAB President and Chief Executive Tabatha Bull in a statement. “The role that procurement can play in offering a hand up will incentivize businesses to champion and encourage Indigenous business inclusion at all levels of business interaction and participation.”
The results of the new survey show views in Atlantic Canada in accord with those of other Canadians. The national results found:
- 77 percent agree Canadian corporations should include Indigenous owned and operated businesses in their supplier networks whenever possible.
- 71 percent think Canadian corporations should help Indigenous entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level.
- 71 percent believe that on-going supports for Indigenous companies, such as training and mentoring, should be a long-term strategy for Canadian corporations.
- 65 percent think companies doing business on or near First Nations, Inuit and Métis lands should obtain services from Indigenous businesses whenever possible.
- 74 percent agree that Indigenous businesses have much to offer the Canadian economy.
- 59 percent think robust Indigenous participation in Canada’s economy should be a higher priority for government and the private sector.
In the statement, Erwin Joosten, Senior Vice-President of Energy and Resources at Sodexo Canada, said that companies that successfully engage with Indigenous communities and businesses have two things in common: “They base their relationships on respect for Indigenous culture and values and focus on constantly strengthening economic and business opportunities for their Indigenous partners.”
In June last year, examination of the Entrevestor Databank indicated that Black and Indigenous communities from Atlantic Canada are under-represented in the region’s startup sector. Our study of 554 regional startups showed that 1.6 percent have Indigenous Co-Founders or CEOs, and 0.7 percent of companies have Black Co-Founders or CEOs who were born and raised in Canada. People identifying as Indigenous account for about 5.5 percent of the region’s population, while those identifying as Black account for about 1.4 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
