As the federal government in Ottawa pushes ahead with its climate agenda — including caps on fossil fuel emissions — many First Nations communities across Canada are warning that they’re being left out in the cold.
Literally.
That’s because a new report by Energy for a Secure Future (ESF) highlights a deepening crisis of energy poverty on First Nations reserves, where the lack of access to affordable heating options, especially natural gas, is forcing families to choose between food and warmth.
“We’ve been calling it heat poverty because that’s what it really is,” said Chief Christine Longjohn of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation. “Our families are finding that they have to either choose between buying groceries or heating their home.”
Key Facts:
• 333 First Nations communities are not connected to natural gas utilities.
• Over 280 remote communities, home to 200,000 people, rely primarily on diesel and propane.
• On-reserve households spend 3x more of their income on energy than average Canadian households.
• Natural gas access could cut heating costs by 50-70%, based on case studies in Ontario and Alberta.
• Dozens of communities continue to endure unsafe drinking water conditions.
In northern Ontario, Neskantaga First Nation has been under a water advisory since 1995 — the longest in Canada. “All we want is clean drinking water… the same rights to clean drinking water as any other Canadian,” Chief Chris Moonias said recently.
The energy crisis is being driven, in part, by the federal government’s climate policies, which have prioritized renewable energy while restricting fossil fuel development, including natural gas.
Programs like the Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative and the Northern REACHE Program focus on wind and solar projects — but many northern and rural communities say renewables alone can’t meet their heating needs, especially during extreme weather.
“There are no federal programs comparable to electricity subsidies that support natural gas access,” said Shannon Joseph, Chair of ESF. “While sustainability is important, affordability and reliability must also be priorities—especially when lives are at stake.”
Sound familiar?
The report underscores that Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by Canada’s high energy costs.
On-reserve households spend three times more of their income on energy than the average Canadian household, and remote communities often rely on diesel and propane that are more expensive and less reliable than natural gas.
Guy Lonechild, CEO of the First Nations Power Authority, is calling on Ottawa to revise its approach. “Natural gas is the new water,” he said, invoking a haunting parallel to another ongoing crisis — the lack of clean drinking water in indigenous communities.
Despite promises from the previous Liberal government starting in 2015, hundreds of First Nations still live under decades-old boil water advisories.
Despite natural gas being Canada’s most affordable and widely used heating fuel — used in more than half of all Canadian households — at least 333 First Nations remain disconnected from natural gas infrastructure, according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).
The irony is that many of those communities are located just a few kilometres from existing pipelines.
In Saskatchewan, 20 First Nations passed a resolution last year urging the federal government to enhance financial support for natural gas access as a “more desirable” path toward energy security.
But progress has been slow as Ottawa, counterintuitively, takes steps to reduce natural gas use across the country.
“Come to my nation and see how my people are living, and the struggles that they have day to day out here because of the high cost of energy,” said Chief Mark Fox of the Piapot First Nation. “Most of our income goes straight to power bills.”
Meanwhile, communities like Red Lake, Ontario and Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta have demonstrated how natural gas can reduce heating costs by up to 70%. O’Chiese First Nation has even established its own Indigenous-owned energy company to take control of its energy future.
Still, many First Nations leaders feel they are fighting an uphill battle against a policy environment that often ignores the ‘realities’ of life on reserve that are worlds apart from what most Canadians are used to.
“People in our community are forced to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table,” said Chief Edwin Ananas of Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation. “The government talks about greener infrastructure, but how long do we have to wait for affordable energy? People are suffering now.”
The ESF report calls for a major shift in federal energy policy — one that treats all energy options equally and gives native communities the autonomy to decide what works best for them.
“When we talk about the energy transition,” said Chief Ananas, “we must make sure that indigenous communities aren’t left behind.”
