Indigenous Relations
Hydro‑Québec’s relations with Indigenous communities in Québec go back for decades. Now, together, we want to take things further.
In our Declaration of Commitment to the First Nations and the Inuit Nation [ PDF - 305 kB ], we affirmed our ambition to “foster, value and embrace Indigenous promise in every aspect of Hydro‑Québec’s activities.”
Strategy for Economic Reconciliation and to Strengthen Relations with First Nations and Inuit
The Strategy for Economic Reconciliation and to Strengthen Relations with First Nations and Inuit [ PDF - 105 kB ] is the result of discussions held in the form of over 30 meetings with more than 100 First Nations and Inuit representatives in spring 2024. These discussions yielded several major principles and enabled us to formulate commitments that will guide our actions now and in the future, in a spirit of collaboration, partnership and economic reconciliation. The Strategy also presents an overview of more than 30 current or future initiatives to concretize our commitments.
Dialogue and collaboration
Hydro-Québec has implemented various means to ensure good relations with Indigenous communities. Key among these is our dedicated team of advisors who make regular visits to Indigenous communities in every region of Québec. Discover the 11 Indigenous nations with whom we maintain an ongoing dialogue.
Portrait of Indigenous nations
There are 11 Indigenous nations in Québec, each of which has its own culture, language and social structure.
Agreements
Hydro-Québec has signed numerous agreements to date with Indigenous communities. These vary depending on the nature of the project and the circumstances of the community in question.
Relations
Hydro-Québec’s relations with Indigenous communities take on different forms: support for culture, contracts, mitigation measures, etc.
Indigenous portal
Designed specifically for Indigenous communities, this portal is your gateway to a host of topics of interest: employment and service contract opportunities, donations and sponsorships, power outage information and public consultations on Hydro-Québec projects.
Our policy
In 2019, Hydro-Québec adopted a policy governing its relations with Indigenous communities. The policy formally sets out our commitment to involve Indigenous communities in our decisions and initiatives, with a view to fostering the acceptability, and hence the integration, of our projects and activities.
This commitment involves maintaining and improving our relations with Indigenous communities, while also creating an open and welcoming workplace for Indigenous staff members that takes their realities into account.
Policy on relations with Indigenous communities [PDF 112 kB - in French only ]PAIR certification
In 2024, the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business awarded Hydro-Québec gold-level certification in the Partnership Accreditation in Indigenous Relations (PAIR) program. Based on continuous improvement, PAIR certification recognizes organizations that, through their actions and efforts, have become Canadian leaders in Indigenous relations.
