New study finds Indigenous economic activity creates $48.36 billion in economic output across Ontario

TORONTO — A new province-wide analysis is putting a number on the scale of Indigenous economic activity in Ontario, finding that its impact reaches across every major sector of the provincial economy.

The Indigenous Economic Contribution Analysis of Ontario (IECAO), released by Indigenous & Community Engagement (ICE), estimates that Indigenous economic activity generates $27.21 billion in direct economic output. When the activity it supports through Ontario supply chains and household spending is included, the figure grows to $48.36 billion in economic output, $25.77 billion in gross domestic product (GDP), and creates nearly 308,000 jobs.

“We talk a lot about the future of the Indigenous economy, but we also need to understand its scale today,” said Michael Fox, President and CEO of ICE. “Indigenous people are now a part of every major sector of Ontario’s economy.

“When I was a child growing up on Weenusk First Nation, no one in our community owned a car or a home. Certainly, no one owned a company. In just one generation, we’ve built powerful economic drivers and laid the foundations for prosperity. There is still much more work to do. There is still an opportunity gap, a poverty gap, and an access-to-capital gap acting as barriers to Indigenous economic empowerment, and Indigenous Nations are not all moving at the same pace. But Indigenous people have always had the ambition, and now public policy is finally catching up, and the benefits are tangible.”

The IECAO found the economic contribution extends across the province and across industries. Public administration accounts for the largest share of GDP in the analysis, followed by manufacturing, health care and social assistance, construction, and real estate and rental and leasing.

The report comes as Ontario prepares for major investments in critical minerals, electricity generation and transmission, transportation, housing, and other infrastructure. For Fox, that is an opportunity for Indigenous people to not only participate in economic growth, but to drive it through equity ownership.

“Jobs matter. Community benefits matter. Procurement that includes Indigenous businesses matters,” said Fox. “But the next step is ownership of nation-building projects and long-lived assets. Indigenous Nations are increasingly becoming investors, developers and owners of the infrastructure Canada counts on, from energy transmission projects to roads. That’s not just generational change, it’s the foundation of intergenerational wealth.”

Fox pointed to public policy changes like the creation of the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and the new rules tied to long lead-time procurement in Ontario’s energy sector as two of many public policy changes that open the door to Indigenous equity participation.

The report also distinguishes between Indigenous economic activity and Indigenous ownership, noting that the $48.36 billion figure includes broader economic activity supported through Ontario supply chains and household spending.

The IECAO is built using the 2021 census and establishes a baseline for measuring Indigenous economic contribution in Ontario. Fox said ICE’s economists will repeat the analysis when 2025 census figures become available. 

The full Indigenous Economic Contribution Analysis of Ontario is available online, with the complete report available as a downloadable PDF.

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Olivia Akena

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