B.C.'s First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund (FNCEBF) is supporting another 12 projects, including a new biomass thermal heating system that will help a Kootenays-based First Nation reduce its energy payments and generate revenue, Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Mary Polak announced today.

A new Strategic Engagement Agreement (SEA) pilot project with 12 Stó:lo First Nations will create more streamlined consultation processes for industry and promote more effective engagement between government and First Nations in the upper Fraser Valley.

Legislation introduced today will allow provincial laws and regulations to apply to major commercial and industrial projects on federal Indian Reserve Land for the first time, announced Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Mary Polak.

A small storage, run-of-river hydro facility that will create economic opportunities and help a coastal First Nation get off diesel is one of 11 new projects supported by B.C.'s First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund (FNCEBF).

B.C. has reached successful agreements with First Nations that deliver specific, practical benefits for communities, companies and the province by shortening project timelines, facilitating faster permits for projects, and creating new jobs, partnerships and training programs.

The Haisla Nation have joined the Coastal First Nations Reconciliation Protocol, a move that will create economic opportunities for the Haisla people and increase certainty over the coastal land base for the First Nation, industry and government.

Job training, joint ventures with industry and exploration of clean energy developments are some of the opportunities being pursued by 14 Aboriginal communities across B.C. through a total of $510,000 from the second round of the First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund.