Project planning: Early engagement with Indigenous Peoples

Follow the guidance below on requirements and best practices to engage with Indigenous Peoples as part of the overall authorization process.

Duty to consult and accommodate
Documentation and validation
Capacity and participation funding
Best practices for early engagement
Benefits of early engagement
Consultation protocols
Consultation checklist
Ongoing engagement and project lifecycle management
Letters of support from Indigenous groups
Addressing concerns and developing accommodation measures
Contact us
Related links

Duty to consult and accommodate

The Government of Canada has a constitutional duty to consult and, where appropriate, accommodate Indigenous Peoples when decisions may adversely impact Aboriginal or treaty rights.

This duty is triggered whenever a government action or decision could impact these rights, including authorizations under the Fisheries Act.

For the Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program, this means that the duty to consult responsibilities must be met before:

issuing Fisheries Act authorizations
issuing Species at Risk Act permits
entering into habitat banks
environmental effects determinations
other decisions taken by the Crown

Although the legal obligation to consult and accommodate rests with the Crown, as a project proponent, your activities can directly inform how Canada fulfills this duty. We may be able to rely on actions and steps undertaken by you to confirm if the Crown's duty has been met. These actions may include:

early engagement
information sharing
records of engagement

Your role is not just procedural, but also relational. Building long-term, respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples contributes to efficient project review. For Fisheries Act authorizations, this should be done well in advance, as we must ensure the duty to consult has been met before issuing authorizations. Early engagement can greatly reduce the time to issue authorizations.

Documentation and validation

Throughout the engagement process, proponents should maintain open communication with us.

Proponents will be required to provide the following information on Indigenous engagement activities, unless all elements of their project follow a DFO technical standard.

These requirements should be applied in a risk-based way. The greater the project risk means more information should be provided.

The application will be assessed to make sure it provides enough information to support DFO risk assessment, Crown consultation and overall decision making.

You must provide:

a list of the Indigenous groups that may be affected by the work, undertaking or activity
a summary of engagement activities undertaken with the Indigenous groups, including a summary of key issues raised and results of the engagement. This could also include:
- descriptions of potential adverse impacts and related concerns
- details of avoidance, mitigation or offsetting measures implemented or proposed
- summaries of outstanding issues and efforts to address them
- a brief description of any plan for future engagement

DFO officials may require more information from proponents to satisfy regulatory and legal requirements. Prompt and cooperative responses from proponents can facilitate smoother and timelier reviews.

Capacity and participation funding

Indigenous Peoples often face capacity limitations that hinder full participation in engagement activities. Proponents can help by:

providing travel costs, honoraria or technical support
offering funding for traditional use studies, administrative support or local facilitators

Indigenous Habitat Participation Program

The participation program offers capacity funding for Indigenous participation in fish and fish habitat engagement and consultations activities. Proponents should:

reference participation funding in initial engagement letters
provide the regional participation program coordinator contact information

Best practices for early engagement

Engage early and maintain ongoing dialogue with Indigenous Peoples throughout the project lifecycle
Use clear, accessible and culturally appropriate materials tailored to community needs
Identify and respect the rights and interests of potentially impacted Indigenous Peoples
Collaborate to avoid, mitigate and offset adverse impacts on Indigenous rights
Document and validate all engagement activities and accommodation efforts thoroughly
Provide detailed Indigenous engagement information in your Fisheries Act authorization application
Work cooperatively with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and respond promptly to information requests or more engagement needs
Recognize engagement as an ongoing process, including monitoring and follow-up post-approval

Benefits of early engagement

Reduces delays by identifying concerns before applications for authorization are submitted
Enables co-development of project designs, reducing potential adverse impacts
Builds trust and improves outcomes in multi-phase or long-term projects
Allows integration of Indigenous Knowledge early in planning
Supports efficient consultation processes by proactively addressing issues
For Fisheries Act authorizations, early engagement can:
- greatly reduce the time to issue authorizations while DFO staff ensure the duty to consult has been met
- proactively identify the concerns and priorities of Indigenous groups during the early development of project designs
- reduce the risk of project redesign late in the authorization process
- allow for cooperative development of offsetting measures, which may also reduce the risk of project delays, modification or redesign

Engagement does not replace consultation. DFO will consider early engagement records as part of its assessment of whether consultation was meaningful and adequate, when jointly validated with the Indigenous rightsholders.

Consultation protocols

Consultation protocols are developed by Indigenous organizations, communities or governments, sometimes in collaboration with federal or provincial/territorial governments, to:

establish a process for addressing the duty to consult on impacts to section 35 rights
facilitate engagement on other interests and concerns

Consultation protocols currently in place can be found by searching the Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System (ATRIS) for "consultation protocol."

Consultation checklist

Planning

Use the ATRIS to identify rightsholders and existing consultation protocols or ask the Indigenous rightsholders if they have a protocol
Collaboratively plan the process and communication methods with Indigenous rightsholders
Provide plain-language and accessible project information, diagrams and maps
Consider community capacity needs in reviewing and understanding information being provided

Communication

Ask about and respect community preferences for engagement (online portals, in-person and/or virtual meetings, phone, email, social media)
Provide communities with clear and accessible information about the engagement process and the proposed activities
Consider community capacity constraints and competing priorities when scheduling engagement, regardless of whether the community is remote or urban
Be open, transparent and culturally aware (for example, offering tea instead of tobacco in Inuit communities, offer translation services to accommodate language preference)

During meetings

Build flexible agendas
Listen actively
Consider different engagement tools and methods to facilitate open dialogue and feedback:
- Refer to the consultation protocol or ask Indigenous groups for their preference
Know and follow customs and protocols for hosting, meeting or ceremonies:
- If you are unsure, ask them
Support feedback loops: revise plans in response to input
When possible, consider in-person meetings and covering associated costs
Discuss potential ways to avoid, eliminate or minimize adverse effects to Aboriginal or treaty rights
Document the discussion

After meetings

Validate concerns and responses with communities
Keep Indigenous groups informed of how their input shaped decisions
Document and summarize all meetings, including unresolved concerns
Provide a "What We Heard" summary as soon as possible

Ongoing engagement and project lifecycle management

Indigenous engagement is an evolving process that extends beyond initial approvals. Proponents should maintain respectful relationships with Indigenous groups throughout project:

construction
operation
monitoring
decommissioning phases

You should keep DFO informed during ongoing engagement and let the department know if issues arise related to fish and fish habitat that you are having difficulty resolving.

You may also reach out to us seeking ongoing direction on the adequacy of the process conducted and if further steps may be necessary.

Monitoring and follow-up

Monitoring impacts on fish and fish habitat and communicating results with Indigenous groups, are key to adaptive management. Collaborative monitoring programs can empower Indigenous groups to actively participate in stewardship and provide ongoing feedback.

Communication of changes

If project modifications are needed in response to monitoring results or emerging concerns, proponents should continue engagement to discuss adjustments.

Letters of support from Indigenous groups

If Indigenous groups support your project, you may request a letter of support. Letters written by Indigenous groups and signed by Chiefs or authorized officials can assist DFO staff in their review and may significantly shorten review timelines. DFO assessors can reference these letters in their notification correspondence with Indigenous groups and use them to seek clarification if needed. Having a letter of support in advance is highly beneficial when project support has been expressed.

Addressing concerns and developing accommodation measures

Accommodation, where necessary, refers to the actions taken to avoid, mitigate or compensate for adverse impacts on Indigenous rights. The duty to accommodate is:

part of the duty to consult
ultimately rests with the Crown
may be applied at the regulatory level (for example, as conditions in a Fisheries Act authorization)

The proponent may choose to address Indigenous concerns during the planning phase to take avoidance, mitigation and offsetting measures for their project to gain support from Indigenous groups. The aim is to address concerns raised during consultation and may involve:

project redesign or relocation
seasonal timing adjustments for construction, operation or monitoring
employment, training or cultural initiatives
financial compensation or benefits agreements
habitat restoration or offsetting measures

Importantly, if concerns are raised early, at the design stages of a project and addressed, then Crown consultation and project decision making become more efficient.

Record keeping

When Indigenous groups raise concerns:

document each concern clearly
work collaboratively to identify avoidance, mitigation or offsetting options
if changes aren't possible, provide transparent reasons why
ensure accommodation measures are validated by the rightsholder group and shared with DFO

Accommodation measures must directly address impacts on rights to be relied upon by the Crown.

Contact us

For more help or information, contact your regional DFO office.

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Date modified:: 2026-10-15

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