Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - September 26, 2024 - The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is concerned about the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB) in Canada, which is awarding more federal contracts to Indigenous businesses than ever before.

The government set a mandatory target to award 5% of government contracts to Indigenous businesses in 2021, which was surpassed in 2022-23 with 6.27% of contracts being awarded to Indigenous businesses, amounting to $1.6 billion.

The PSIB defines Indigenous businesses as those owned and operated by elders, band or tribal councils, or registered with the Government of Canada's Indigenous Business Directory or on a modern treaty beneficiary business list.

The AFN Regional Chief Joanna Bernard called for more transparency on business definitions and eligible criteria for the types of businesses who qualify as Indigenous.

Philip Ducharme, vice-president of entrepreneurship and procurement with the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business, said the attention given to a "few bad actors" could distract from the good work the PSIB is doing for Indigenous communities and business owners.

The federal government should look to organizations like the Canadian Council of Indigenous Business to verify that applications coming through PSIB are in fact Indigenous-owned businesses.