Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement (CLCA) Benefits

Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement (CLCA) benefits are the economic and social-development benefits provided for Indigenous groups under modern treaties. In procurement, they usually take the form of better opportunities for CLCA beneficiaries to compete successfully for contracts in their settlement areas, or to take part in employment, training or subcontracting tied to a procurement. The specific benefits and obligations differ from one CLCA to the next.

CLCAs, also called modern treaties, are agreements involving Canada, an Indigenous group and often a provincial or territorial government. Most include procurement measures meant to strengthen economic opportunities for the Indigenous group that benefits from the agreement. The Government of Canada describes these measures on its CanadaBuys page on Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements.

What federal buyers do under a CLCA

Depending on the treaty, federal departments and agencies may have to take specific steps when they buy. These include:

• Dividing requirements into commodity or geographic groupings.
• Notifying claimant groups or beneficiary businesses about a procurement.
• Consulting CLCA business directories.
• Using evaluation criteria that benefit CLCA beneficiaries, where practical and consistent with sound procurement management.

CanadaBuys states that buyers must address applicable CLCA obligations at the solicitation stage when a procurement instrument involves CLCAs. This is set out in the buyer's guidance on choosing a method of supply.

Right of first refusal and reserved procurements

Some modern treaties include a right of first refusal. Where one applies, a procurement can be reserved for CLCA beneficiaries. CanadaBuys identifies a specific clause for these reserved procurements in its standard acquisition clauses and conditions manual. The archived manual gives a Gwich'in example, in which qualified Tetlit Gwich'in who have expressed interest must be included on contract lists.

How CLCAs appear in departmental rules and supply arrangements

Departments build CLCA obligations into their own contracting rules. Correctional Service Canada's contracting directive requires procurement officers to apply CLCA obligations when final delivery of goods, construction or other services takes place in a settlement area covered by an applicable CLCA.

Supply arrangements handle CLCAs in two ways. Some exclude CLCA-covered locations and require those needs to be procured separately. The Public Services and Procurement Canada Solution-Based Supply Arrangement excludes locations in several CLCA-covered regions on this basis. Other federal instruments state that CLCA obligations may be considered in later request-for-quotation or request-for-proposal processes, as in this request for supply arrangement.

What CLCA benefits mean for a supplier

Read the CLCA provisions in each solicitation closely, because the requirements depend on the treaty and the place of delivery. Check whether the work is delivered in a settlement area, whether the procurement is reserved for beneficiaries, and whether the evaluation rewards beneficiary participation.

Commitments you make in your bid are binding. In the Nunavut Settlement Area, commitments in an Inuit Benefits Plan or Nunavut Benefits Plan become contractual obligations and a condition of full payment, as the PSPC publication on the Nunavut Settlement Area explains. Promise only the employment, training or subcontracting you can deliver, and plan how you will report on it.