The Mineral Assessment Tool (MAT) can assess which projects are more likely to turn into a mine, and generate positive or negative impacts. The MAT can also determine where to invest a community's limited time and resources to inform community planning, consult community members, negotiate agreements, and more.

This tool was developed in collaboration with Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) in response to a growing number of mineral projects affecting the KTC Territory. The KTC MAT Report provides an example of the MAT Tool in use.

IBA Community Toolkit The IBA Community Toolkit is a free resource for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in Canada considering impact and benefit agreements (IBAs), specifically those with mining companies. While the Toolkit focuses primarily on the mining industry, many of the issues and processes addressed in the Toolkit are relevant to the making of agreements in other industry sectors and contexts, including protected areas, oil and gas, hydro and forestry. The goal of the Toolkit is to help communities, negotiators and consultants achieve positive agreements for Aboriginal communities. The Toolkit was authored by Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh (Griffith Business School) and Ginger Gibson (Firelight).

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are focused on protecting ecological and cultural values held by Indigenous communities. They are managed either exclusively by Indigenous Government and Organizations or in partnership with territorial, provincial and/or federal governments.

Working together, MakeWay and Firelight, conducted research on five different IPCAs to provide the opportunity to learn from the experiences of people currently involved in implementing IPCA agreements, the challenges they face, the advice they give, and the successes they have achieved. The Report supporsts other Indigenous Government and Organizations who are navigating their own work to protect lands and waters.

Modern conservation agreements can provide an avenue for Indigenous Governments and Organizations to create protected areas while having clear provisions for the continued practice of Indigenous rights and traditional use within those areas. This Report was prepared by MakeWay and Firelight to provide a review of Indigenous Conservation Agreements in Canada including best practices, challenges, and implications for the future.

This report provides a practical resource on conservation agreements to support Indigenous Governments, Nations, communities, and organizations that are negotiating, implementing, evaluating, renegotiating, or seeking to learn more about these types of conservation agreements. It brings together history, agreement requirements, existing processes, research, community stories to help identify best practices.

The report is leading the way in identifying the strategic approaches Indigenous governments are taking as they lead their own major project assessments. By doing this, Indigenous governments are breaking ground, ensuring culture, language and way of life are central to the review of projects, and asserting their rights and responsibilities for environmental stewardship and land and resource decision-making in innovative and concrete ways.

The report, put together by Firelight, is based on case studies from across Canada, is being released to participants from the eight member nations of the Arctic Council who are in Yellowknife this week for a Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council Workshop on “Best Practices in Arctic Environmental Impact Assessment”. It will inform their project that aims to identify best practice in environmental assessment.