Sheila Wanite Bautz
Special to the Herald
Recently, five Indigenous investors successfully reached a $9 million equity investment with the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC). One of the five Indigenous investors is the investment firm Athabasca Basin Development from Prince Albert with a second office in Saskatoon.
“We are pleased to invest in this strong and well-established business,” said Geoff Gay, CEO of Athabasca Basin Development. “We see a lot of growth happening for Indigenous groups, and FNBC is well positioned to service them. This was an excellent opportunity for us to continue our work growing wealth for the Athabasca communities, and we look forward to supporting First Nations Bank as they continue their plans for growth and expansion.”
The Indigenous investment firm states that the key to their success is a strong focus on the creation of wealth and reinvesting finances through identifying lucrative opportunities by either acquiring, launching or continuing the growth of existing companies.
Established in 2002, the Indigenous investment firm expanded to include complete or partial ownership in companies delivering a vast range of services. Athabasca Basin Development’s investments into established companies include industrial security, skilled workforce supply, drilling and aviation to name a few.
Due to a rising demand in the First Nations Bank of Canada (FNBC) core commercial lending business — and through launching programs in partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) — the new capital funding supports the FNBC’s continued loan book expansion.
The CIB is focused on being an impact investor with a goal to develop infrastructures that Canadian residents require and need. The specialized bank for infrastructure states that they deliver outcomes in the areas of sustainable economic growth, connected communities and energy competitiveness.
“Indigenous Nations and communities are on the rise in this country, with this capital investment we plan to keep pace with Indigenous Nations and be the lender of choice for Indigenous-led growth,” said Bill Lomax, President and CEO of First Nations Bank of Canada. “We stand proud to be building a bank that is owned by Indigenous communities and works for Indigenous communities.”
The FNBC was founded in 1996 and is 88 per cent Indigenous owned, operated and controlled. The financial institution focuses on serving Indigenous people in Canada, along with non-Indigenous people, corporations and governments. The FNBC report that, in recent years, there is an increasing demand for lending to Indigenous governments, entrepreneurs, and businesses across Canada. The financial institutes funding is set to scale up lending under its CIB Indigenous land development loan program and the banks recently launched the FNBC-BDC Indigenous Business Acquisition loan program.
Geographically, the Athabasca Basin is a Northern area in Saskatchewan with a land base that covers over a quarter of the province’s demographic. There are seven Indigenous communities in the Athabasca Basin, which is largely composed of the Dene First Nations. This includes Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids, Black Lake, Hatchet Lake, Wollaston Lake, Camsell Portage and Uranium City. The demographic has little to no infrastructure, such as accessible roads that are scarce, while hosting the world’s richest high-grade uranium deposits.
The company, Athabasca Basin Development, is owned by the seven communities in the Athabasca area. As a result, there are endless opportunities to maximize local community participation in the mining industry, such as employment opportunities.
The other four communities’ who are investors include Whitefish Lake First Nation on Treaty 6 in Alberta. There are two First Nations from British Columbia, which are Úújǫ Developments on Treaty 8 and Doig River First Nation on Treaty 8. The fourth community is Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Trust in the Yukon.
“This equity raise is a strong endorsement of our strategy and the trust that Indigenous communities across Canada place in FNBC,” said Lomax. “These are not just investors – they are partners in building an Indigenous-led financial institution capable of accelerating economic reconciliation and driving prosperity in our communities.”
Since 2023 when Lomax became President and CEO of the FNBC, the bank publicly states that Lomax led his team to the expansion of the lending capacity for the bank. Lomax accomplished the first goal through a $100M loan participation agreement with the CIB in 2024. This loan assisted in financing the construction of new Indigenous infrastructure projects. Presently, a $100M initiative with BDC is reported to accelerate the acquisition of existing businesses by Indigenous communities and organizations.
Currently, the FNBC is seeking to secure up to $50 million in equity capital over the coming year. FNBC states that the proceeds will further strengthen the bank’s ability to serve Indigenous economic development and expand its national reach.
