The Canadian Council for Indigenous Business and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab have launched the Indigenous Business Insights Tracker, an interactive dashboard designed to give Indigenous entrepreneurs, policymakers, and communities a clearer, data-driven picture of Indigenous economic participation in Canada.
The tracker, hosted on CCIB’s website and updated quarterly, pulls from Statistics Canada data combined with direct insights from Indigenous businesses. It maps demographic distribution, business outlooks, anticipated obstacles, and trade activity, including cross-border sales volume and expected tariff exposure.
“Indigenous businesses are now engaged in every sector of the Canadian economy,” says Matthew Foss, VP Research and Public Policy, CCIB. “It’s vital that we measure this progress and strengthen the evidence based on Indigenous economic performance. By doing so, we can continue to tell the stories of Indigenous participation, highlighting the success stories alongside the remaining obstacles.”
Indigenous entrepreneurs have historically been underserved by traditional data reporting, meaning decisions about investment, procurement, and policy often got made without accurate information about where Indigenous businesses actually operate and what they actually need.
“By combining Statistics Canada data with insights from Indigenous businesses, the dashboard provides a sharper, more nuanced picture of how Indigenous entrepreneurs are navigating trade pressures and where opportunities exist to support continued growth,” says Jasleen Kaur Trehan, Economist, Business Data Lab, Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“At a time of heightened uncertainty, having access to this kind of granular, community-informed data isn’t just useful, it’s essential.”
Indigenous businesses trade across borders and operate in sectors, from natural resources to professional services, that are directly in the path of current tariff disruptions.
With the dashboard helping close the data gap, it also hands Indigenous communities the ability to tell their own economic story, with evidence behind it.
Final Shots
- The Indigenous Business Insights Tracker is hosted on CCIB’s website, updated quarterly, and freely accessible to businesses, policymakers, and communities.
- The dashboard covers trade activity including cross-border sales values and anticipated tariff impacts, making it directly relevant in the current trade environment.
- Indigenous businesses have historically been undercounted in standard economic data; this tracker combines Statistics Canada data with community-sourced insights to address that.