Enbridge’s Cynthia Hansen, Canadian Club panel discuss Indigenous partnerships and Canada’s energy future
The Canadian Club Toronto heard a powerful conversation today about the future of energy in Canada—and how Indigenous communities are shaping it through equity partnerships.
The event, entitled The Path Forward: Indigenous Participation and Project Development in Canada, addressed Indigenous participation in major Canadian infrastructure projects and advancing reconciliation.
At the discussion’s heart were panelists Cynthia Hansen, Enbridge’s Executive Vice President and President of Gas Transmission; Justin Napoleon, Board Director of the Stonelasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership; and Elizabeth Wademan, President and CEO of the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV).
The group explored the makings of a collaboration now recognized in British Columbia and across the country—not only as historic for its size, but as a template that governments, Indigenous communities and industries can replicate.
In May 2025, 38 British Columbia First Nations became minority owners in Enbridge’s Westcoast natural gas pipeline system, a C$736-million transaction backed by a CDEV loan guarantee. The legwork and ultimate transaction—for an equity stake in the vast Enbridge natural gas system that stretches across BC—are a model for what nation- building economic reconciliation can look like.
Ms. Hansen didn’t mince words about why Enbridge, North America’s leading energy infrastructure company, followed the important path it did: “As Justin said, this wasn’t a new idea and we (Enbridge) were listening. We’d heard from the (First) Nations that they wanted to participate but there wasn’t a financial structure in place when we first started having the conversations,” she said.
That began to change with programs like the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, which opened the door for Enbridge’s first equity transaction in 2022—a C$1.12-billion deal with 23 First Nation and Métis communities in Alberta, anchored around the purchase of an 11.57% equity position in seven oilsands pipelines. Then, in the 2024 federal budget, the CDEV program was unveiled.
"It’s something we’re obviously proud of, and we continue to look for those really meaningful opportunities across our system for equity participation."
Cynthia Hansen
Enbridge Executive Vice President and President, Gas Transmission and Storage,
on the company’s four equity partnerships with Indigenous communities to date
Enbridge has completed four such transactions—the most in the industry. It isn’t stopping there, Ms. Hansen said: “It’s something we’re obviously proud of and we continue to look for those really meaningful opportunities across our system for equity participation.”
Napoleon told the Canadian Club audience that trust and patience were the bedrock beneath the complex Westcoast Energy agreement that involved 38 Nations from across five regions.
“Enbridge let the Nations lead it, and they provided the capacity. A Nations-led steering committee was key. Patience to let the Nations take the time they needed to evaluate to deal, the economics of it . . . and (patience) to reach out to their communities, which found comfort being told (the details) by someone who is from their community,” he said.
“And if you say you’re going to be a partner, understand that a lot comes from that. Engage early. Engage often. And engage respectfully. We got a deal that works for the Nations, works for Enbridge and works for Canada.”
The recent transaction in BC shows how collaboration between industry, Indigenous communities and government can unlock opportunities that were once out of reach.
Ms. Hansen emphasized that government loan guarantee programs are a critical piece of the financing structure beneath Indigenous equity participation, providing “stability and confidence of the markets to move it forward.” So, too, are resources for the necessary legal, accounting and baking advisement that such deals require.
Panelists agreed that a stable and consistent policy approach from governments—that adopt building out Canada with equity inclusion as an economic pillar—will also help ensure the access to capital that Nations need participate in a new, and growing Canadian energy future.
“We have identified 47 opportunities across Canada which include First Nation, Inuit and Métis opportunities—half of those are now in formal application and 10 are in deeper due diligence, representing more than $3 billion of potential loan guarantees,” Wademan said.
“We do think this is just scratching the surface.”
Listen to today’s full Canadian Club Toronto conversation.
(TOP PHOTO: From left, panelists Cynthia Hansen of Enbridge, Justin Napoleon of the Stonelasec8 Indigenous Alliance Limited Partnership and Elizabeth Wademan of the Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) spoke at the Canadian Club Toronto on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.)
