NANCY LANTHIER: SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL

The Globe and Mail: Over the next two decades, Indigenous-led developments could result in the construction of tens of thousands of new homes in Canada.

As First Nations reclaim space with these housing communities, nation members not only gain economic viability, but opportunities to apply Indigenous knowledge and values to the built environment, say leaders of the projects.

Taza, in southwest Calgary, is Canada’s largest First Nations development. The Tsuut’ina Nation, in partnership with Montreal-based real estate developer Canderel, is building a master-planned community on 1,200 acres of the Tsuut’ina Nation’s land. The $10-billion mixed-use project will feature 17-million square feet of real estate, including more than 6,500 residential units.

Phase One of Taza, the retail hub known as the Shops at Buffalo Run, launched in 2020 with the opening of Costco’s first store on Indigenous land. This location quickly became one of the chain’s busiest. Since then, more than 30 businesses have opened there, including TD Bank’s first branch staffed entirely by colleagues from First Nations communities.

According to Bryce Starlight, vice-president of development for Taza, the bustling plaza, which is 90 per cent leased, significantly enhances the economic foundation for Taza’s future community expansion and contributes to building generational wealth.

With a goal to be North America’s Indigenous leader of low-carbon communities, the Tsuut’ina Nation’s Taza team and Canderel have put sustainable practices at the forefront of the masterplan design and building guidelines, says Mr. Starlight.

“Taza is not just inspiring for our own people, it’s inspiring for everyone with development opportunities,” says Mr. Starlight.

At the Shops at Buffalo Run, shoppers can also see numerous elements that promote the culture of the Tsuut’ina people, “from as small as the manhole-cover designs” to huge murals and art installations, says Mr. Starlight. “When you walk into Costco, the first thing you see is giant ‘welcome’ sign, written in Sarcee, the Tsuut’ina language. That’s a pretty big step,” he says.

‘Our stories’

In Metro Vancouver, three First Nations – the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh – have come together to develop six pieces of land equalling 160 acres, and valued at more than $5-billion, according to the three nations’ real estate firm, MST Development Corporation.

While MST’s Jericho Lands project is by far the largest, at 90 acres and 13,000 potential homes, the group’s 21-acre Heather Lands is the first to receive rezoning approval.

Located in the midsection of Vancouver, Heather Lands, a joint venture with crown corporation Canada Lands Company, will feature 2,600 leasehold condos, many of which will be offered to eligible buyers for 60 per cent of their market value (with the other 40 per cent collected when the unit is sold or after 25 years). The plan also includes a French-language school and associated child-care facility, an MST cultural centre, and plaza, as well as 4.4 acres of park and open space.

Key to the project’s rezoning success was the Indigenous “knowledge and wisdom” about sustainability shared during engagement processes, says Chief Jen Thomas of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

Members of the three nations helped create the award-winning Heather Lands Cultural Interpretive Plan, a document that informs all aspects of the development’s design, including landscape, pedestrian and bicycle networks, public art, building and architectural character, lighting, energy systems and more.

“It’s our stories that are being put into the development,” says Chief Thomas. “We’re 100 per cent behind the whole thing. We want you to feel a part of us. We want to share who we are with everybody.”

The benefits of the development extend well beyond cultural agency, says Chief Thomas.

“There’s economic opportunity for our member-owned businesses,” she explains. “We have members who have a plumbing company, a drywall company, a cleaning company. MST members will be a part of it from ground to top levels.”

Highly sustainable

First Nations landowners can spend years negotiating for financial resiliency of a development. This was the case for the Indigenous Hub in Toronto’s Canary District.

In 2014, the provincial government returned a 2.4-acre parcel of West Don Lands to Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) – with no resources or funding and restrictive conditions for land use.

“Initially, I dubbed it probably the worst treaty ever written,” says Joe Hester, executive director of AHT, a health-care centre for Indigenous clients offering both western and traditional treatments.

“Eventually, the agreement evolved. We were able to portion part the land for a condo development – presales of which helped finance the site’s other buildings – and an apartment building, which will be a source of revenue for us going into the future.”

Now nearly complete, the block-long Indigenous Hub includes AHT’s new four-storey health centre; a four-storey building for its sister organization Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training Centre, which houses a child-care centre, an 11-storey rental building and a 13-storey condominium.

Partnering with developers Dream Unlimited, Kilmer Group and Tricon Residential, AHT prioritized the articulation of Indigenous values and principles through the design of the Indigenous Hub, says Mr. Hester.

The health centre’s perforated metal exterior appears to wrap the building like a fringed shawl, while the facade of the employment centre evokes birch trees. Corners of buildings are rounded to honour the circular aesthetic that expresses Indigeneity.

Indigenous-owned architecture firm Two Row provided consulting to main architecture firms BDP Quadrangle and Stantec for the site, creating guidelines based on First Nations principles. Residents strolling through the site’s landscape of native plants – tobacco, sage, cedar, sweetgrass – can rest on one of seven benches that represent seven Anishinaabe teachings: Love, respect, bravery, truth, honesty, humility and wisdom.

“I think Indigenous people have a lot to bring to this whole area of how we utilize and build space,” says Mr. Hester. “It’s highly sustainable and really adapts to the needs of everyone.”

Can the scores of First Nations developments planned across the country affect its housing affordability crisis?

A 2023 report by CoStar states that potential new rental units provided by just four Metro Vancouver projects – MST’s Jericho Lands and Heather Lands developments, the Squamish Nation’s Senakw project by the Burrard Street bridge, and the Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations’ Willingdon Lands project – will equal 10 per cent of the current greater Vancouver rental pool.

“How that will move the vacancy needle is really hard to say,” says Paul Richter, CoStar’s director of market analytics, Western Canada, who wrote the report.

Increase in migration flows will likely ensure that demand will outstrip this new supply, he notes.

“But it’ll help. It will maintain things so that they don’t get even worse.”