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With economic anxieties and geopolitical tensions mounting, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly minted Liberal government has signalled a renewed focus on economic issues, particularly as it relates to large-scale resource development. Touting the new projects as key to Canada’s self determination and a means of resetting the federal government’s increasingly fractious relationship with Indigenous peoples, Carney has signalled an openness to new energy corridors and electricity grids, expanded port facilities, mines and a range of other initiatives.

Importantly, he has also pledged to go beyond his predecessor to more meaningfully include First Nations, Inuit, and Metis voices in decision making processes — a commitment echoed in King Charles’ throne speech to the Canadian senate.

That renewed emphasis on Indigenous inclusion has, in turn, drawn fresh attention to the National Benefits-Sharing Framework, a key policy architecture inherited from the Trudeau government aimed at restructuring economic equity from development projects. Informed by nearly a year of consultation with Indigenous communities and organizations, industry groups, and provincial, and territorial governments, the NBSF is designed to ensure Natural Resources Canada’s compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

If implemented in full by Carney’s government, the NBSF would bolster national economic reconciliation efforts by cutting bureaucratic red tape to deliver critical, Indigenous-led projects faster, while also creating a stronger, more inclusive economy with enhanced investment appeal. The framework would serve as a catalyst for reconciliation, fostering new and equitable Indigenous partnerships while streamlining resource and infrastructure development. 

A Closer Look at the National Benefits Sharing Framework

In response to Priority 33 of Canada’s 2023–2028 Action Plan, itself designed to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the NBSF tasks Natural Resources Canada with increasing the economic participation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in the natural resources sector.

In line with this mandate, the framework outlines strategies to ensure Indigenous communities gain more consistent and equitable access to the benefits of federally regulated resource projects, including revenue sharing, capacity-building, and long-term ownership opportunities.

The exact details of how benefits will be shared, however, are still being finalized, despite the NBSF nearing completion. The final draft is expected to be released by Carney’s government sometime before the end of 2025. 

Early roundtable reports and project objectives indicate that benefit sharing will not look like industry-nation revenue sharing or the implementation of a veto power for Indigenous governments, as is called for in the United Nations Document on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Primarily, this is due to NRCan’s inability to authorize such powers. 

Instead, the NBSF is likely to enshrine “meaningful collaboration with Indigenous” communities along the project cycle of all NRCan undertakings in mining, forestry, oil, gas, electricity, and clean energy — the definition and expectations of which are currently being finalized. This will ensure that projects are enacted with free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous communities while still allowing for the continued growth and prosperity of Canada’s natural resources sector. 

In doing so, the framework may alleviate longstanding tensions surrounding Canada’s existing Duty to Consult Doctrine — a legal precedent that has drawn criticism from both Indigenous communities and industry stakeholders alike. Today, the Duty to Consult represents Canada’s standard pre-development consultation process, legislating government bodies and partners to consult Indigenous communities in an effort to understand how their projects could impact Aboriginal and treaty rights. Long lamented as ineffective by Indigenous groups and costly and cumbersome by industry, The Duty to Consult is widely seen by many as a flawed process that serves neither reconciliation nor economic progress.

In contrast, the NBSF enables earlier, more meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities—allowing projects to move forward with the clear backing of both Canadian and First Nations governments. This reduces the risk of costly delays due to later-stage objections stemming from the vague or non-binding expectations of the previous doctrine. In doing so, it has the power to renegotiate the relationship between the federal government, Indigenous groups, and the natural resources sector to create a stronger, more consolidated economy. 

The Bottom Line

A renewed emphasis on economic inclusion through the NBSF could ultimately mark a meaningful shift toward effective industry collaboration, honouring the original mandate of the Duty to Consult while also establishing best-practice precedents that reflect the interests of both industry and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners. 

If implemented effectively, this could create a more democratic and streamlined economy that’s better positioned to attract international investment and deliver on large-scale natural resource projects. Now Carney must deliver.