Indigenous Communities Engineering Services

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

Ecora has had the honor of working with 40+ First Nation communities and is affiliated or partnered with several Indigenous groups and businesses throughout British Columbia. We work closely with each community we partner with to ensure that all values are heard, understood and incorporated into our work.

Through our First Nation joint ventures, we have gained an exceptional perspective into the traditional values, culture and traditions that make First Nation communities excellent business partners, and even better friends. We have worked closely with First Nation communities with and without a respective joint venture contract as well, due to our transparent and honest approach to all aspects of work. Some of these communities are Halfway River First Nation, Yekooche First Nation, Shackan Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, and Osoyoos Indian Band.

Although these communities differ greatly in location throughout the province, we are still able to foster a long-lasting relationship with them. As stated by Chief Darlene Hunter of the Halfway River First Nation, “The relationship that we have with Ecora goes beyond business. It’s a long-lasting friendship based on trust and respect.”

JOINT VENTURES:

• Halfway River First Nation (HRFN) which included environmental services for BC Hydro.
(We have also worked on a number of projects with HRFN through unofficial partnership.)

• Cheam First Nation called Ayelstexw Consulting Services.

• LLP with Osoyoos Indian Band called Inera Consulting Services.

• LLP with Shackan Indian Band called Zuminstn Environmental Services.

• MSA with Sea Bird Island First Nation.

SERVICES PROVIDED:

Halfway River First Nation, Shackan Indian Band, Prophet River First Nation:

• Created a web-based Land and Resource Management tool that brings together Traditional knowledge and Western science into a central database that allows the community to consolidate their information for a more educated and justified decision-making process.

Yekooche First Nation:

• Terrestrial and aquatic habitat assessments and studies, surveying, and monitoring
• Support for fisheries related initiatives as part of Treaty Related Measures
• Species-at-risk surveys
• Forest inventories
• Permitting services

Cheam First Nation:

• Information synthesis and technical review
• Meetings with chief, council, and community
• Participation in technical meetings
• Terrestrial and aquatic surveys
• Rare and endangered species and ecosystem surveys
• Traditional plant surveys
• Cultural features identification
• Sites near or within Traditional Land Use areas
• Terrain stability assessments
• Soil assessment
• Construction monitoring
• Completing and/or reviewing permit applications
• Conducting environmental audits and reports
• Conducting post construction surveys to assess a variety of vegetation related components including re-vegetation success and the effectiveness of vegetation management plans

Halfway River First Nation

• Liaising between the technical working group, the BC Environmental Assessment Office, and HRFN’s Chief and Council
• Reviewing the application and supporting documents from an environmental science perspective
• Reviewing environmental assessment documents for comprehensiveness, scientific defensibility, as well as cultural, environmental, social and economic feasibility
• Participating in BCEAO working group meetings
• Recommending mitigation strategies or alternatives on behalf of HRFN to eliminate potential negative environmental impacts from the proposed development and activities
• Presenting findings to HRFN through a formal report
• Stakeholder application and referral review and comment
• Liaison for Indigenous services Canada
• Representative for multiple working groups including but not limited to: BC Regional Strategic Environmental Assessment, Fort St John Land and Resource Management Plan and Site C

Szumin’ts:

Szumin’ts is a partnership between Tsal’alh Development Corporation (TDC) and Ecora offering a suite of professional services. One of the main goals of the partnership is to enhance capacity, complement the skillset of existing St’at’imc businesses, and to work collaboratively with existing St’at’imc business. This relationship is built around trust, transparency, mutual respect, consistent values, capability and capacity building and win-win. Through this partnership, we provide:

• Environmental Services
• Archaeology
• Geohazard evaluation and mitigation
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Materials Testing
• GIS, Geo-Spatial and Data Management
• Planning, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design
• Civil Engineering
• Hydrotechnical
• Mechanical & Electrical Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Forestry