Manitoba Métis-owned businesses score ‘big win’ as door opens on federal contracts

ManitobaA big door to federal contracts reserved specifically for Indigenous businesses has been thrown open to Manitoba’s Red River Métis.More than over 850 businesses in Métis directory officially recognized by federal governmentCBC News · Posted: Aug 20, 2025 3:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours agoManitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand, left, and Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty announce the federal government’s official recognition of the Red River Métis business directory as a source for verified companies to bid on contracts on Wednesday. (Trevor Brine/CBC)A big door to federal contracts reserved specifically for Indigenous businesses has been thrown open to Manitoba’s Red River Métis.David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, and federal Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty announced on Wednesday the federal government will officially recognize the Red River Métis business directory as a source for verified companies. The directory has more than 850 businesses registered, and all are now eligible to bid directly for contracts — sometimes worth billions of dollars — under the federal government’s procurement strategy for Indigenous business.”That is a big win, my friends, a very big win for our businesses,” Chartrand said.”We’re estimating about 10 per cent of those businesses, without doubt, should be able to fit [the criteria] on the big announcements and jobs that are coming. This is a massive announcement.”Wednesday’s announcement was made possible by the November 2024 self-government treaty signing between the Manitoba Métis Federation and federal government, formally recognizing the federation as the government of Red River Métis, Gull-Masty said.In a time of economic uncertainty due to trade restrictions and tariffs, it’s important to work together to strengthen the economy and protect the country, and Wednesday’s announcement is part of making a Canada “that we will build together,” Gull-Masty said.As part of its reconciliation efforts, the government requires federal departments to award a minimum of five per cent of their total procurement each year to First Nations, Métis and Inuit-owned contractors.Gull-Masty says in a time of economic uncertainty due to trade restrictions and tariffs, it’s important to work together to strengthen the economy and protect the country. (Josh Crabb/CBC)”We’re talking thousands of jobs in the future, thousands upon thousands, [and] businesses evolving to a much better financial situation,” Chartrand said.Being listed as a federally recognized business under the procurement strategy is not a guarantee of approval, he cautioned.”They are guaranteed to be part of the opportunity, now that they can bid. Whether they are selected as the right business is a different question,” Chartrand said. “But they will have a chance.”In order to qualify for the program, a business must first prove it is at least 51 per cent Indigenous-owned and register under the federal Indigenous business directory.In 2023-24, the government of Canada awarded more than $1.24 billion in contracts to Indigenous businesses, representing 6.1 per cent of all eligible government contracts, a joint news release from the MMF and the federal government said.However, the procurement strategy for Indigenous business has come under scrutiny for poor auditing practices and concerns that some of the companies that received funds have no ties to Indigenous communities, or that they are circumventing the processes. A 2021 research report by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business warned of phantom joint ventures where an Indigenous partner is “used as a front” by a “non-Indigenous business to obtain a contract” corroding the integrity of the policy.It urged the federal government to address such “predatory practices” in Indigenous procurement.Last year, Public Services and Procurement Canada suspended all contracts with GC Strategies, Dalian Enterprises Inc. and Ottawa-based firm Coradix — firms that received the most money to build and run the ArriveCan app that tracked travellers during the pandemic restrictions.