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Advancing reconciliation

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

We’re working to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples by incorporating the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action into our business.

Our UNDRIP implementation plan

Our UNDRIP implementation plan identifies the concrete actions we’ve taken and will take going forward, together with Nations we work with and serve. The plan includes 29 actions where we can advance reconciliation within the context of our business, which are grouped into five themes:

  1. Respectful relations
  2. Social and cultural well-being
  3. Decision making
  4. Water, land, and environment
  5. Economic relations

Read the plan  [PDF, 4.1 MB]

How we developed the plan

To ensure that our plan reflects the priorities of Indigenous Peoples and the ways we can best support those, we worked collaboratively with First Nations to develop it. We received hundreds of comments from First Nations since spring 2021 that helped shape it.

Report: feedback we heard and how we incorporated it [PDF, 5.9 MB]

We’re working closely with First Nations to implement the plan together will report on our progress regularly.

If you have an idea for advancing reconciliation, share it with us.

Statement of Indigenous Principles

Our UNDRIP implementation plan complements our Statement of Indigenous Principles.

BC Hydro exists to serve British Columbians by providing clean, reliable and affordable electricity. We recognize that maintaining and developing the system has impacts on the lives and interests of Indigenous Peoples.

To support our move towards true and lasting reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, we will acknowledge past wrongs, listen to Indigenous perspectives and seek shared understanding with First Nations communities and governments.

Through our Statement of Indigenous Principles, we commit that:

  1. We will always operate safely and protect the safety of individuals.
  2. We will inform First Nations communities, to the best of our ability, of our multi-year planning, identifying potential projects and works as early as possible for discussion.
  3. We will strive to provide the most clear, accessible and transparent information possible.
  4. We will seek advice on Indigenous perspectives on how to best reduce or avoid impacts on the environment, cultural heritage and social needs.
  5. We will be accessible and open to understanding the unique interests of Indigenous Peoples in relation to our operations.
  6. We will respect that our perspectives may be based on different world views.
  7. We will seek opportunities for meaningful benefit with First Nation communities as we refurbish existing facilities and assets, build new infrastructure or undertake work.
  8. We will seek solutions to improving the accessibility of clean reliable and affordable power to First Nations communities in remote areas of the province.
  9. We will support Indigenous candidates to succeed in gaining employment with BC Hydro and to increasingly become a part of our workforce.
  10. We will deliver on our commitments and we will be open and transparent if something is standing in the way of our mutual success.

About our commitment

BC Hydro is sincere in its commitment to ensure these principles are understood and acted upon by everyone in our organization, including contractors.