“We’re pro-moving forward. We’re pro-accelerating, but in the right way that actually allows for Indigenous communities to both benefit and also be at the table to be part of those conversations,” says Josh Gray, co-founder and CEO of Arlo Health, and member of the Wahnapitae First Nation.

Speaking at Elevate Festival in Toronto alongside Althea Wishloff, general partner at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners and member of the Gitxsan First Nation, Gray said the country’s growth depends on how it includes Indigenous peoples in both decision-making and ownership.

The conversation tackled what the Indigenous economy looks like in 2025, a year defined by both opportunity and tension. On one hand, major federal programs are expanding Indigenous access to capital and procurement. On the other, new infrastructure legislation has raised concerns about how consultation is being handled. 

“It’s been a tumultuous time,” said Wishloff.

Together, the two leaders explored how Indigenous ventures are moving from the margins to the centre of Canadian innovation, and how they can drive change through policy, entrepreneurship, and investment that reflect both economic and cultural sovereignty.

Building the right way

The passage of Ontario’s Bill C-5 and the Building Canada Act has become a flashpoint for Indigenous leaders who see progress coming at the cost of proper consultation. While the new legislation aims to speed up major infrastructure projects, many worry it does so by limiting the voices of the communities most affected.

Gray called for a version of growth that keeps inclusion at its core. 

“There’s a right way to do business where everyone across the board wins,” he said. “I think, as Canadians, that’s part of our fabric, of our culture. We include others, and we help build a better world for everybody, each and every person in the room, without moving forward and bulldozing through regulation.”

He described how development projects often move ahead without meaningful Indigenous participation, despite clear parallels to everyday property law. 

“If you were to buy a property in downtown Toronto, you’d have to buy it from whoever owns it before that,” he said. “That’s just not being done at this larger scale, in that same way.”

Wishloff agreed that Indigenous communities should not be treated as afterthoughts in nation-building. At the same time, she pointed to encouraging signals from institutions such as First Nations Bank and the Business Development Bank of Canada, which have announced $100 million in new initiatives to help Indigenous communities acquire stakes in major projects. 

“We need to be super mindful about what that means for Indigenous peoples,” she said.

Beyond tokenism

Beyond community projects, federal policy is also creating more opportunities for Indigenous-owned companies. In 2021, the Government of Canada set a target to award 5% of federal contracts to Indigenous businesses. Wishloff called it “a phenomenal opportunity,” but said execution lags behind intent.

“In instances, we’ve got what we call ‘red-washing,’” she added. “Where Indigenous people are brought in and tokenized just for the purpose of accessing this federal procurement opportunity.”

Gray offered an example of how it can work when done properly. RaceRocks, a Métis-led company based in Victoria, trains members of the Canadian military through advanced simulation and learning programs. 

“That’s a great example of an Indigenous business in Canada that’s punching above its weight in a critical government sector,” he said. But he added that many companies still treat Indigenous partnerships as side deals rather than full participation. 

“That’s not what Indigenous people want,” he said. “They want to be part of the conversation.”

Both speakers argued that Indigenous business is too often perceived as small or local. 

“There’s a notion across Canada that Indigenous business equals small business, and that’s just not the truth,” said Gray. 

Referencing Jeff Ward, founder and CEO of Animikii, creators of Indigenous data sovereignty platform Niiwin, Gray added “there’s a lot of data that supports the contrary.” 

“There are huge tailwinds that are lifting up, and Indigenous founders are playing in these big markets.”

Scaling Indigenous innovation

Wishloff’s firm, Raven Capital, was founded in 2019 and is, as she says, the first and only Indigenous-focused venture fund in North America. It now supports nearly 30 companies, including Gray’s Arlo Health, which connects parents with family health providers in under five minutes via text.

“Raven is majority Indigenous-owned,” Wishloff said. “When we invest in a business like Josh’s, that ownership on the capitalization table is accretive to Indigenous ownership.” 

The fund’s model blends traditional venture capital with measurable social impact, asking each company to select a specific article of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples they would like to work towards. In Canada, this also aligns with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, which asks the corporate sector to adopt the declaration as a framework for reconciliation. 

For Gray, it’s the kind of partnership that goes beyond capital. 

“Culturally speaking… Indigenous culture comes from a place of giving. Give first and come to the table with something to offer,” he said.

He credits Raven for living that ethos.

“Before we were at all ready to take on funding, she would give her time, her access, her network, and in a way that went past the stereotypical ‘send me an email and I’ll forward it to somebody,’” he said. “It went past that level, to a level of ‘I’m going to be in the trenches with you,’ even though we don’t have a vested stake in you right now.”

Arlo Health is now part of a growing movement of Indigenous tech ventures tackling systemic issues through innovation. Its focus on continuous, text-based care offers new access points for families in remote areas, especially where in-person care is limited. 

As Gray told the audience, “The more rural you get, the harder it is to access care. What we’re trying to do is help that 80% of non urgent care use cases.”

Why organizations must prioritize equity partnerships

Wishloff and Gray highlighted forecasts showing that Indigenous-led businesses could grow by 23% over the next decade and contribute 1.5% annually to Canada’s GDP if fully engaged.

Sectors like energy, financial services, minerals and extraction all have a multitude of projects that would be amazing for Indigenous communities, added Gray.

For companies, the path forward isn’t only ethical, it’s strategic. Integrating Indigenous participation strengthens governance quality, improves risk management, and enhances access to markets and capital. Businesses that move early to align procurement and partnership practices with Indigenous priorities are positioning themselves for long-term advantage. 

In an article in the Journal of Aboriginal Management titled “Indigenous Participation in Infrastructure Projects,” Peter Muldowney of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, wrote that increased participation can help encourage Indigenous businesses development, and increased cash flow into communities can address issues like healthcare, education, housing, and cultural revitalization, among others. 

“Engaging Indigenous communities also helps to protect the value of infrastructure investments by mitigating some of the associated risks,” he continued. “Helping to avoid or address conflicts and legal challenges early while supporting smoother and more efficient project development and operations.”

The projects themselves aren’t the issue, added Gray.

“The issue isn’t even doing them faster,” he said. “It’s how do we bring everyone to the table in a way where everyone’s taken care of, not in the form of a handout, but in the form of doing business like you would with other colleagues in a lot of these situations.”

Final shots

• Indigenous participation is not a compliance checkbox. Not only is it grounded in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, it’s fast becoming a measure of competitiveness, risk management, and leadership quality. Leaders who talk about reconciliation have to build for it, too.
• Businesses that build equity partnerships early, through procurement, governance, and shared ownership, gain credibility with investors, regulators, and communities. The advantage lies in co-designing projects that endure.
• Leaders who treat inclusion as strategy, not optics, will be the ones shaping how Canada builds next.