Canadians Supportive of Indigenous Involvement in Canada’s Energy Sector as Part of Reconciliation Process

Toronto, ON, October 6, 2022 – Indigenous partnerships within Canada’s energy sector have become part of the reconciliation process for many Canadians. In the lead-up to Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30^th, an Ipsos poll asked whether Canadians believe that Indigenous community involvement in developing Canada's natural resource is an essential part of the broader reconciliation process. Nearly three quarters (72%) agreed that it is.

Two-thirds (66%) go on to say that we owe Canada's Indigenous communities a financial stake in the development of our natural resources. Canadians residing in Ontario (68%), Quebec (71%), and income-earners making between $40K - $60K (71%) and $60K - $100K (72%) especially tend to agree.

However, only half (52%) of Canadians said that without Indigenous involvement, Canada’s natural resource developing should not proceed. On the flip side, 31% believe that Canada should proceed with natural resource development regardless of Indigenous involvement, with Albertans (41%) more likely to hold this view. 

Most Canadians believe Indigenous involvement is needed to ethically develop our national resources.  Only slightly more than a quarter of Canadians (27%) agree with the statement “We don't need Indigenous involvement to ethically develop our natural resources.” The view that Indigenous involvement is not required for ethical natural resource development is more strongly held in British Columbia (38%) Alberta (37%) and Atlantic Canada (37%), and less strongly held in Ontario (23%) and Quebec (23%).

Canadians also do not agree that helping our allies in Europe with energy supplies should take precedence over involving Indigenous Canadians in developing our energy. Just three in ten (31%) believe that involving Canada's Indigenous communities in the development of the country’s natural resources is less important right now than helping our allies in Europe, a sentiment felt more strongly among younger Canadians (18-34, 41%) and men (38%). Just over half (53%) of Canadians disagree, with Albertans (61%) and older Canadians (55+, 62%) more likely to feel this way.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 26th to 30th, 2022. For this survey, the sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:

Gregory Jack
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs (Canada)

+1.403.604.7804
[email protected]

Lisa Byers
Account Manager, Ipsos Public Affairs (Canada)
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

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