Federal Contracting in Comprehensive Land Claims Areas

Comprehensive claims are negotiated, tripartite agreements between Canada, an Aboriginal group and the relevant province or territory. Comprehensive land claims deal with the unfinished business of treaty making with Aboriginal peoples in Canada. These claims generally arise in areas of Canada where Aboriginal land rights have not been addressed by treaty or through other legal means.

Comprehensive land claims agreements, also known as modern treaties, define the ongoing legal, political and economic relationships between Aboriginal parties, the federal government and the provincial or territorial governments who are signatories to these agreements. To date, 24 comprehensive land claim agreements (CLCAs), covering roughly 50 percent of Canada's land mass, have been ratified and brought into effect since the announcement of the Government of Canada's claims policy in 1973.

Comprehensive land claim agreements often contain provisions for economic development that oblige Canada to conduct procurement, or the purchase of goods, services or construction, in such a way that is fair, transparent, and opens the bidding process to Aboriginal groups in comprehensive land claim agreement areas.

In June 2008, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) changed contracting reporting requirements in order to improve transparency and accountability relating to the Government of Canada's contracting activities in comprehensive land claim areas. This was expressed in TBS Contracting Policy Notice 2008-04. These guidelines require government departments and agencies to collect information about federal contracting activity in comprehensive land claim agreement areas and for this information to be compiled in quarterly and annual reports that are posted online.

These reports also fulfill a commitment made by the federal government, in response to the Auditor General's 2007 report concerning the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, to improve the reporting and monitoring of federal contracting activities in comprehensive land claim agreement areas. The reports are also in keeping with the Government of Canada's commitment to accountability and transparency to Canadians.