The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) was founded 20 years ago as an organization that was borne out of what are known as Aboriginal Financial Institutions (AFI), which were first created in the late 1980s by Aboriginal leaders, the Government of Canada, and a Native Economic Development Program initiative. The primary mandate was to address the lack of available capital to finance Aboriginal small-business development.

AFIs were created to provide repayable, interest-bearing loans to Aboriginal small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were unable to secure loans from highly-regulated conventional lenders due to risk tolerance levels.

Several AFIs joined together to form NACCA and retain their autonomy. The purpose of NACCA was to increase the number of Aboriginal entrepreneurs in Canada and provide opportunities for Aboriginal entrepreneurs to be successful.

This is an excerpt from the Canadian Business Journal.

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Ottawa, January 24, 2018 - The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) was eager to hear about the priorities of Canada’s new Department of Indigenous Services Canada (DISC). For over a year now, NACCA has been advocating on behalf of its members to increase the availability of capital and support services for Indigenous businesses. Currently about half of the members are operating under capacity due to lack of resources.

NACCA CEO Shannin Metatawabin expressed cautious optimism prior to yesterday’s press conference by The Honourable Jane Philpott, Minister of Indigenous Affairs. “We are hopeful for a real action plan to implement the promises and the recommendations of the past few years” said Metatawabin.

Minister Philpott spoke of five key priority areas for her new department. NACCA commends Canada’s commitment to “health, education, child & family services, and reliable infrastructure such as water & housing”. These four areas are long-standing concerns for all Indigenous communities and organizations, including NACCA.

The fifth and final priority area for DISC will be “a new fiscal relationship”. NACCA has the solid foundation in place to build a feasible economic development agenda with DISC, and to meet the demands of the growing number of entrepreneurs from all Indigenous groups including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

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Halifax, NS/June 22, 2017 – BBB Serving the Atlantic Provinces was honoured to present a Torch Award for Business Ethics to the first ever Aboriginal business recipient last week. On Friday, June 23, Truro’s Ulnooweg Development Group received a Torch Award for the 11 to 49 employee category. Torch Awards are given to companies who go above and beyond to give back to their communities and inspire marketplace trust.

“It falls into our work to build awareness about the Aboriginal business population, our need to connect with the non-Aboriginal community, and vice-versa,” says Chris Googoo, general manager of Ulnooweg. “Reconciliation goes both ways. It is important that when we take one step forward, they take two steps towards us. We can help close the gap between us through awareness of the issues in Indigenous communities, such as access to capital.”

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By Shannin Metatawabin

Did you know that June is National Aboriginal History Month? In 2009, the House of Commons passed a unanimous motion to celebrate the contributions and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The month was also intended to provide an opportunity to reflect on their strengths and aspirations.

Recalling the purpose of National Aboriginal History Month, the situation calls for “reconcile-action,” a term coined by our elder, Dr. Wilton Littlechild. In a recent report advising the federal government, the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board estimated that Canada could gain $27.7 billion towards the GDP by acting to close the gap between mainstream Canada and indigenous peoples – in quality of life, infrastructure, education, health and economic development opportunities. Continue reading

For the last several years, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has published an annual list of the Top 10 Barriers to Canadian Competitiveness. That document listed some of the self-inflicted wounds that have prevented Canada's economy from achieving its full potential and set out their recommendations for change.

This year, they released a different document. Instead of focusing on barriers, they outlined 10 ways to improve our economic success, along with specific recommendations to advocate throughout the year.

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Ottawa, March 23, 2017 - The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Gerry Huebner as Chief Strategy Officer. Gerry graduated from Trent University in 1983 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Queens University in 1986.
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The Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies

Case Studies in Aboriginal Business

Developmental Financing for Aboriginal Businesses
Marcia Nickerson

SYNOPSIS

Court decisions over resource and revenue sharing continue to benefit Aboriginal communities across Canada and, as opportunities emerge, Aboriginal businesses are growing much more quickly than in mainstream Canada. Consequently there is an increasing demand for access to capital and innovative financing to enable the start-up and growth of such businesses. Most Aboriginal businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and are often the primary engines of economic growth for many Aboriginal communities. They represent a significant opportunity to address many of the existing socio-economic challenges by reducing unemployment and creating wealth. Continue reading