More than 30 First Nations across Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia are calling for sweeping changes to the Island Coastal Economic Trust (“the Trust”), saying the time has come for equal decision-making power in shaping the region’s economic future.
A new Indigenous-led report, prepared by Vancouver Island-based Sa̱nala Planning, recommends transforming the trust into a permanent, co-governed development organization with long-term, sustainable financing. The report reflects months of engagement with 33 First Nations and input from all 53 Nations whose territories fall with the trust’s service area, which stretches from the Salish Sea to Cape Caution and includes Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and dozens of inlets and smaller islands.
The recommendations mark a turning point for the trust, which was created in 2005 to help diversify the economy of coastal communities but has never included First Nations at its decision-making tables.
The report, known as the First Nations Strategic Recommendations Report, was delivered to the trust in June 2025 and simultaneously shared with the government of British Columbia. It urges the province and the trust to work with both First Nations and local governments to create a consensus action plan that would fundamentally reshape the trust’s governance and financing.
Key proposals include appointing First Nations to at least half of the trust’s board seats, removing the legislative funding cap that limits how the trust can operate, and permanently capitalizing the organization to ensure its long-term sustainability.
For Jessie Hemphill, CEO of Sanala Planning, the logic behind the recommendations is straightforward.
“First Nations have been self-governing and taking care of these lands since time immemorial,” Hemphill said. “It’s a logical correction to past injustice that we would be included in the governance of any organization with the level of impact that the trust has, and I hope to see this same shift happening in other regional and provincial organizations where we don’t already sit at the decision-making table.”
The call for inclusion is not new. Local governments across the Island and coast have passed resolutions supporting a co-governance model since 2022, and three separate provincial legislative reviews have highlighted the exclusion of First Nations as a problem with the original act that created the Island Coast Economic Trust.
The recommendations also align with the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Poeples Act (DRIPA) Action Plan 2022-2027, which commits B.C. to ensuring First Nations are represented in regional decision-making bodies. In 2024, the province provided $10 million to the trust, some of which funded the Indigenous engagement process that culminated in the new report.
“A portion supported the development of the transformation report, but the vast majority was allocated to ongoing project investments and keeping the trust active in serving communities,” said ICET in an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Since 2006, the trust has leveraged more than $370 million in investments across coastal B.C., supporting projects in tourism, infrastructure, innovation, and community development. But First Nations leaders and their partners say the priorities of the trust could broaden and deepen if Indigenous voices were formally included in decision-making.
Brodie Guy, CEO of the Island Coastal Economic Trust, pointed to a dramatic rise in Indigenous-led projects funded by the trust in recent years.
“We have seen a significant change in Indigenous people, companies, and governments driving the new economy across the coast for many years,” Guy said. “For the trust, there was very little investment in Indigenous-led projects going back a decade ago – in recent years it has been 40 to 50 per cent of total project investments but really peaked last year at 72 per cent. We want to see that sustain and grow for the benefit and wellbeing of all people and our environment across the coast.”
He added that the law governing the trust, the North Island-Coast Development Initiative Trust Act, has been flawed since its beginning:
“The fact that the law of British Columbia that governs the trust does not allow First Nations to appoint their people to the decision-making tables has been wrong since that law was first passed in 2005,” said Guy, noting how the trust could become a co-governed development organization. “Our hope is this will not only strengthen decision making, investment decisions, and economic development here in our region, but also serve as a leading example and inspiration for governments across the rest of B.C., Canada and beyond, that Indigenous leadership is vital and shared decision making is a pathway to a better future for everyone.”
The report emphasizes consensus-building as the next step. The trust’s board has committed to implementing the recommendations by working with First Nations, local governments, and the province to create a concrete action plan. That plan would include exploring new models of permanent investment and may also require legislative changes in Victoria to modernize the act governing the trust.
Michelle Staples, chair of the trust and mayor of Duncan, said the shift is about more than symbolism.
“We are committed to walking with First Nations and the province to bring this co-governance vision to life, not as a symbolic gesture but rather as a path towards transformation in how decisions are made and futures are shaped throughout Vancouver Island and coastal communities,” she said.
If realized, the change would mark the first time a regional economic trust in B.C. has been co-governed by First Nations and local governments on a permanent basis. Leaders believe the model could serve as a precedent for other parts of the province and country.
Sayaač̓atḥ, John Jack, chief Councillor of Huu-ay-aht First Nations and vice chair of the trust, called the moment one of transformation.
“Co-governance is not just about inclusion. It’s about building institutions that reflect the values, leadership, and potential of all communities on this coast,” he said.
For communities across Vancouver Island and the coast, the recommendations represent both continuity and change – a continuation of years of calls for reform, and a significant shift in how regional development might be governed in the future. Whether the province and partners can deliver on that vision will determine if this moment becomes the historic turning point many leaders believe it to be.
