Message from President and CEO
Ernie Daniels
President and CEO of FNFA
In 2011-2012, my first year as President & CEO with the FNFA, I outlined what I envisioned FNFA could achieve with enough support and trust from the FNFA borrowing members. This included successfully issuing several debentures and holding a loan portfolio exceeding the $250 million level, benefiting up to 25 communities.
After just over a decade, I am extremely proud to report that 364 First Nations have voluntarily scheduled to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FNFMA), with 169 completing all processes to be an FNFA borrowing member. Together, the First Nations and the FNFMA organizations have created a world class program that improves internal capacity development, creates a property tax regime for communities who choose this path, and affords access to capital at rates paid by the Province of Ontario.
Fiscal year 2023-24 was one of celebration for FNFA members, its Board of Directors (Board) and staff: the organization saw continued operational self-sufficiency, we issued our tenth debenture, surpassed the $2 billion level for our loan portfolio, received all-party support for impactful amendments to our Act (see Message from the Chair), were recognized as a Top Employer in the Province of BC, signed an MOU with our Australian counterparts, and saw a material increase in the number of institutional investors purchasing our latest debenture offering. FNFA also commenced actions to organize a technical committee that is working towards reviewing the appropriate establishment of a not-for-profit insurance model specifically for Indigenous communities and contractors: asset and bonding insurance.
This tenth debenture, which closed on January 24th, 2024, was for $357 million, our largest to date. With an expanding FNFA borrowing membership and an expectation that our debenture issuance program will increase, staff embarked on major investor roadshows throughout the Fall. These investor presentations led to an expansion of our bondholder base and sets our membership up nicely by ensuring FNFA’s access to larger amounts of capital continues as our First Nations members’ opportunities expand in scope.
FNFA’s Board and staff celebrated when our loan portfolio achieved the $1 billion level in 2020-2021. The FNFMA’s institutions’ outreach continued with First Nations coast-to-coast-to-coast, leading to FNFA reaching the $2 billion level in only three further years. And, recently FNFA surpassed $3.05 billion in financing for First Nation governments, contributing to an estimated 30,000 jobs and an output of $6.5 billion to the Canadian economy.
This growth momentum is due to increasing participation by First Nations in equity opportunities, and a recognition by the private sector that First Nations are beneficial business partners. This change in political and private sector thinking ties in nicely with FNFA’s mandate areas under our Act – financing economic opportunities. The significance to our membership is that these for-profit ventures provide much-needed cash flows that allow First Nations to achieve community priorities.
In closing, I would like to thank our First Nations members for their continued support during the last fiscal year, our Board of Directors for always being available to review loan requests on short notice, and our hard-working staff for always meeting our members’ loan financing timelines.