What defines an Indigenous business? A guide aims to weed out fronts and frauds – Yahoo News

March 19, 2024

A coalition of Indigenous economic organizations wants the federal government to adopt new definitions of what constitutes Indigenous businesses and organizations into its procurement process.

“We know that there are shell companies that maybe have an Indigenous front person that’s being used really to access a lot of set-asides and procurement opportunities,” said Dawn Madahbee Leach, chair of the National Indigenous Economic Development Board and a member of the National Indigenous Procurement Working Group.

The new Indigenous Business Definitions were released by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) last week and developed by the National Indigenous Procurement Working Group, which consists of representatives of various Indigenous organizations, government departments, and industry associations.

In 2021, the federal government announced a government-wide procurement target of five per cent for Indigenous businesses. The federal government’s Indigenous Business Directory includes a list of Indigenous companies eligible for special consideration when bidding on some federal contracts.

Read More: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/defines-indigenous-business-guide-aims-224707217.html