The First Mile

Supported by the SSHRC-funded First Nations Innovation Project

First Nations Infrastructure Fund (AANDC)

Infrastructure Canada was established in 2002 as a federal department to support and facilitate infrastructure development initiatives, and in 2007 was mandated to oversee the Building Canada initiative, a seven-year (2007-2014) plan linked to public works projects in communities. The First Nations component of this initiative, a five-year, $131 million First Nations Infrastructure Fund, did not initially specifically address broadband infrastructure (AFN Chiefs Committee on Economic Development, 2010, p. 17). Approximately $17 million of this fund was to be allocated to projects in the British Columbia region. According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) (formerly Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, or INAC), which now administers the First Nation Infrastructure Fund (FNIF), the fund combined a portion of INAC’s Capital Facilities and Maintenance Program, Infrastructure Canada’s Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, and the Gas Tax Fund -- a ‘single-window’ approach designed to increase efficiency and streamline access to funding (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, n.d.). It initially focused on project funding in four categories: community planning and skills development; solid waste management; roads and bridges; and energy systems. The FNIF was described as “a project-based proposal driven program aimed at helping First Nations improve infrastructure on reserve” (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2007, para 7). While broadband infrastructure and connectivity was recently added to the eligible funding categories, it appears this inclusion has not initially been accompanied with any new funding.