Indigenous Business series: Indigenous Corporate Training

The Indigenous business series brings together voices from majority-owned/controlled (51% or more) Indigenous peoples’ businesses that have worked with UBC, sharing their experiences with UBC’s procurement process. The series aims to support supplier diversity and strengthen inclusion of Indigenous businesses in future opportunities at UBC.

Indigenous Corporate Training

Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. delivers professional learning on Indigenous relations, reconciliation, and consultation, helping organizations build cultural competence and improve engagement with Indigenous communities.

Can you share your experience doing business with UBC?

Overall, we’ve had a good experience working with UBC. We have provided a number of departments at UBC with our Indigenous relations training over the years.

How can UBC improve our Indigenous procurement process? Were there any challenges?

A challenge we have encountered in UBC’s Indigenous procurement process has been with the purchase and payment orders that some departments have required. Occasionally, we have had to adjust the terms on these purchase and payment orders so that they match our terms as a company. In particular, we take protecting our intellectual property (IP) very seriously and are very cautious to make sure any terms include a clause to protect our IP.

Do you have any advice for people at UBC who want to work with Indigenous Businesses?

First, we recommend doing the necessary research to determine that the business you wish to engage with is Indigenous-owned. This could include checking the federal Indigenous business directory and the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB)’s Indigenous business directory.

Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that many Indigenous businesses are smaller teams who often don’t have the capacity to review long legal documents or purchase/payment orders. We emphasize the need for clear and up front information, that is in accessible language. It is also important to give these businesses adequate time to review everything before signing.

When engaging in Indigenous procurement, it’s important to keep capacity challenges in mind and consider ways that you can reduce barriers and support Indigenous suppliers.

Our Indigenous Procurement course gives key aspects of what successful Indigenous procurement looks like, and we help assist organizations in understanding common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Our Indigenous Consultation & Engagement course helps clarify the distinctions between the legal requirement of consultation and the moral commitment to engagement.

What advice would you give to Indigenous businesses who want to work with UBC?

For Indigenous businesses interested in working with UBC (and in general), we have similar advice: be sure to read contracts, and to review purchase and payment terms closely, carefully, and thoroughly before signing.

How has working with UBC impacted your efforts to achieve your business or community goals?

At Indigenous Corporate Training, our vision is to continue to be the trusted guide for learners in their quest for reconciliation and to make the world a better place for future generations. Our work with UBC has certainly helped contribute to our vision to make the world a better place, and we are grateful to have helped learners in their quest for reconciliation.