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By Justin Goulet

New report finds Indigenous population contributed $6.74 billion to Alberta’s economy in 2019

Nov 23, 2021 | 9:12 AM

EDMONTON, AB – A new report is highlighting the contributions Indigenous Peoples have made to Alberta’s economy.

The report was assembled by ATB Financial and MNP and is titled ‘Opening the Door to Opportunity: reporting on the Economic Contribution of Indigenous Peoples in Alberta’. It is one of the first of its kind to set up a baseline for Indigenous economic contribution in the province, estimated to be $6.74 billion, or two per cent of Alberta’s GDP in 2019, with about 313,000 Indigenous Peoples living in the province.

MNP’s Vice President of Indigenous Services Clayton Norris said the report aims to quantify these contributions and evaluate the potential for growth in the pursuit of parity.

In a release, Norris stated that, “the economy will really take off when employment and income levels of Indigenous Peoples are at the same levels as other Albertans, which could be achieved by continued investments in education, health, infrastructure and business partnerships.”

The report found that in order to close that gap, there must be an increase of support for Indigenous participation in the labour market, Indigenous entrepreneurship and support for the growth of Indigenous-owned businesses.

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Jon Horsman, ATB Financial’s Senior Executive Vice President, Business said, “there are so many lessons we can learn from Indigenous communities, one of the most important is through acknowledging our interrelatedness and through partnership with Indigenous communities, Alberta has a tremendous opportunity for prosperity.”

“It requires us all to be mindful and purposeful in advancing reconciliation and Indigenous inclusion in business and the economy.”

Some key findings in the report include:

• The Indigenous economy in Alberta generated $6.74 billion of GDP in 2019, which is equal to the GDP generated by the province’s agricultural sector.
• Indigenous-owned businesses’ spending of $2.3 billion was estimated to have generated $1.27 billion in direct GDP, and $500 million of indirect GDP in 2019.
• Total employment among the Indigenous population was equivalent to 88 per cent of the direct employment of Alberta’s tourism sector in 2019.

The full report can be accessed here.