The Best of Both Worlds: Corporate Responsibility and Performance in Aboriginal Relations

Aboriginal people are seeking opportunities to participate in Canada’s economy in order to become self-reliant. Through land-claim settlements, moves towards self-government, and economic and business development, they are redefining their relationships with corporations.

Document Highlights

Many corporations recognize that they need to build mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal people—as employees, customers, business partners and stakeholders. This new relationship translates into opportunities and challenges for corporations that have Aboriginal communities as stakeholders.

Corporations are finding that supporting Aboriginal economic development gives them access to:

• Aboriginal talent;
• resources;
• customers and entrepreneurial vigour; and
• in the final analysis, an improved corporate performance.

This report explores a number of successful initiatives in corporate–Aboriginal co-operation.