Sask. Chamber of Commerce creates new Indigenous charter

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce rolled out a new charter Tuesday to push businesses in the province to be more inclusive of hiring, training and keeping Indigenous people on staff.

It’s called the Indigenous Engagement Charter; early signatories to it include Farm Credit Canada, SaskPower, PCL Construction, Nutrien and the CIBC, among others.

Business people who signed the Indigenous Engagement Charter pose for a photo at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina, Sask. on Jan. 21, 2020. (Evan Radford/980 CJME)

Businesses that sign on also must develop their own Indigenous engagement strategies, educate employees on Indigenous culture and history, and develop procurement practices for using Indigenous work services and businesses.

Nick Crighton is the Chamber’s director of Indigenous engagement. He says the $750 sign-on fee is mostly reinvested into training.

“We offer Indigenous awareness training,” he said. “This year we’re doing over 31 Indigenous awareness trainings across the province.”

Businesses get perks, too, like “a directory of suppliers for procurement opportunities,” skilled-worker directories, training sessions and tools to measure levels of Indigenous engagement, he said.

“Businesses are going to start recognizing to be a little bit more inclusive, to be including Indigenous people in their plans when they’re talking about … their policies,” Crighton said.

The Chamber’s CEO, Steve McLellan, said: “Indigenous engagement has been on the Chamber agenda for decades. I am thrilled that we have now launched this Charter, our most tangible and important effort in fully engaging Indigenous people with business.”

The full charter can viewed here.