Open for business, in a good way

By Dana Martin, Vice President of Indigenous Financial Services at Scotiabank
 

My mother and I went on an adventure last summer. We drove from Squamish, B.C., to Membertou, N.S., more than 12,000 kilometres. Along the way I was honoured to take part in leadership meetings and cultural events in Indigenous communities across the country.

In addition to the thrill of spending those weeks with my Métis mother and discovering some of the rich and diverse cultures of Indigenous communities across Turtle Island, I also came away with one clear message that serves as a guiding light in my work at Scotiabank: Relationships matter.

Each of the leaders I had the chance to sit with brought a unique perspective about the future of economic reconciliation, the needs of their communities, and the importance of local insight. These weren’t just check-ins I was having. They were deep conversations about impact, innovation, and accountability. Hearing from Elders and community members across the country was a powerful reminder that if we want to build trust, we need to listen deeply, show up consistently, and honour lived experience.

That is the approach that my team in Indigenous Financial Services at Scotiabank takes every day. We're making sure that we are in the community, that we understand the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit before we offer solutions and products. The way business is done with Indigenous Peoples is different. As one potential client said to me, “as a bank, you’re going to have to date us a lot longer than you’re used to.”

That is something we understand deeply. We won’t just go into a community to ask that a deal be signed. We get to know the people first, we break bread, we meet Elders. We’re building community, not just partnerships. We know we must help rebuild trust between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples.

One of the ways we do that is through education. There hasn’t always been sufficient understanding in the financial services industry about Indigenous issues and challenges, and those communities were too often assessed as too risky to do business with. But that is changing, and Scotiabank is at the forefront of that transformation.

A little over a year ago, Scotiabank launched its Truth & Reconciliation Action Plan, a pioneering effort in financial services that included 37 actionable commitments to help establish relationships of trust between Scotiabank and Indigenous employees, clients, and communities. A significant number of those commitments revolve around education for our leaders and employees, challenging ourselves to change the trajectory of our interactions.

I can tell you that the challenge has been taken up with passion at the Bank. From frontline employees to senior executives to the board of directors, there is a shared commitment to engage with our history, understand what we need to do to make it better, and use the tools at the Bank’s disposal to move the project of economic reconciliation forward.

The shift in the culture and mindset within Scotiabank toward Indigenous business has been significant and positive. Decision makers, including myself, are more open to listening and learning than ever before. They recognize the moral and historical necessity to do better by Canada’s Indigenous Peoples, as well as the economic potential for those communities and for the country in fully empowering development and growth in those communities. And they understand that their perception of risk when it comes to Indigenous business was, at best, not fully informed.

In Indigenous Financial Services, our team plays a key role in bringing those worlds together. We walk with one foot in each world, and we translate. Because oftentimes it's the same ideas and process, we just have to get the language on the same page.

On the banking side, we help our colleagues understand the opportunities and that we can help them navigate the challenges that legislation puts in our way. We show them there is a way to get a deal done that is good for both sides. On the Indigenous side, we provide advice on how to structure a deal, how to structure their banking, and so on.

Because of legislation impacting First Nations, we have to come up with creative ways to support Indigenous clients, from small businesses to First Nations and their economic development corporations. Part of that is helping both sides think outside the box, when that makes sense, in order to get the deal done. We have developed the expertise in the Indian Act, the First Nations Land Management Act, and historical and modern treaties, among other things, to help overcome barriers and support Indigenous economic reconciliation.

On housing, for example, where Indigenous communities are facing a situation perhaps even more critical than in other parts of the country, we are forging innovative approaches, like a creative use of a sublease agreement, to allow First Nations members to have a home ownership loan, as mortgages cannot be taken out on reserve land under the Indian Act.

We also know that the needs and priorities of Indigenous communities will vary widely across the country. The Mi'kmaq people are going to be completely different – in their culture, treaties and traditions, for example – from the Coast Salish people in B.C. We look at every deal as unique, so we can find the right bespoke solutions and get the right clients in front of the right bankers. That’s also why we’ve also grown our team by 67% in just the past year, so that we now have Indigenous Financial Services representatives in each region across the country.

We still have a long way to go on the path to economic reconciliation, as a country, as an industry, and in the organization I work for. But we are heading in the right direction. Scotiabank recently held a full-day Reconciliation Summit that brought together Indigenous corporate leaders and business owners from across Canada to reflect on progress on economic reconciliation, lessons learned, and next steps.

Panel discussions during the conference delved into topics including the role of Indigenous leadership in shaping sustainable economies, innovation and investment in Indigenous-owned projects, progress made on closing the capital gap for Indigenous communities and projects and the important role of private capital, and how companies large and small incorporate reconciliation into their business models and day-to-day practices.   

It was the kind of meeting that would have been unheard of ten years ago. It demonstrated that when it comes to Indigenous communities, it's no longer about poverty management, it's about growth management and wealth management. And that we all need to work together so we can all benefit.

Scotiabank is stepping up to facilitate that with a thoughtful approach, deep expertise, and a genuine desire to listen to and learn from Indigenous partners. We are open for business, in a good way.

This article was first published in the Journal of Aboriginal Management and is republished with permission.