Notice of confidential Indigenous Knowledge received from the Northwestern Ontario Métis Community

Under section 119 of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), it is required that all Indigenous Knowledge provided in confidence to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) be kept confidential. The IAA also requires that the assessment report state how Indigenous Knowledge was taken into account. IAAC, without revealing the sensitive details of the information and to attest that the full record of Indigenous Knowledge will inform the Assessment report, is providing a notice that confidential Indigenous Knowledge was received.

On May 28, 2026, IAAC received confidential Indigenous Knowledge from the Northwestern Ontario Métis Community (NWOMC) to inform the impact assessment of the Great Bear Gold Project. The assessment undertaken by IAAC will be fully informed by Indigenous Knowledge received. This includes the specific confidential Indigenous Knowledge provided by NWOMC to which this notice pertains. It may be necessary for IAAC to refer to confidential Indigenous Knowledge in its Assessment report, if the specific details of that Indigenous Knowledge provide the foundation for analysis or conclusions. If this is required, IAAC will work with the NWOMC to ensure that such information is presented in a general fashion and will not disclose any sensitive details of the confidential Indigenous Knowledge. If IAAC does need to refer to this specific confidential Indigenous Knowledge in its assessment report (for example if a specific conclusion relies on that evidence), a footnote or other notation will use the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry reference number of this notice, in order to document the source.

For more information on IAAC's policy regarding confidential Indigenous Knowledge, see our guidance: Protecting Confidential Indigenous Knowledge under the Impact Assessment Act.