NACCA and Alto Sign MOU to Support Indigenous Economic Participation In Canada's High-Speed Rail Future Français
GATINEAU, QC, May 7, 2026 /CNW/ - The National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA) and Alto have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a collaborative framework to connect Indigenous businesses, entrepreneurs, and workers to opportunities emerging from one of Canada's most ambitious infrastructure projects: the high-speed rail network along the Toronto to Québec City corridor. The MOU reflects a shared commitment to advancing Indigenous leadership, economic participation, and reconciliation in Canada's future economy through involvement in major projects.
"Canada's largest infrastructure project in modern history must also be one of its most inclusive. This MOU with Alto signals a meaningful step toward ensuring that Indigenous peoples, as business owners, workers, and community leaders, are at the table from the very beginning. NACCA's network of Indigenous Financial Institutions has helped build over 54,000 businesses coast to coast to coast, and we are ready to bring that capacity, those relationships, and that vision to help shape a high-speed rail project that reflects the full economic potential of Indigenous Canada."
Keith Matthew, NACCA Board Chair
The MOU brings together NACCA's national Indigenous finance and business development network, which spans more than 50 Indigenous Financial Institutions (IFIs) across Canada, and Alto's work developing Canada's high‑speed rail network to support Indigenous participation in economic opportunities connected to the project. Through this partnership, both organizations intend to actively connect Indigenous-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and workers to procurement, contracting, and employment opportunities as the project advances. The high-speed rail network corridor, stretching from Toronto to Québec City with stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, and Trois-Rivières, is expected to generate approximately 50,000 jobs over its construction period and deliver economic benefits worth approximatively $24.5 billion, which is equivalent to 1.1% of Canada's GDP.
"Indigenous‑led organizations play an important role in informing how we approach Indigenous business participation and economic opportunity as an essential part of the project. This MOU provides a structured way to advance that work together. Our partnership with NACCA is intended to help ensure Indigenous communities along and beyond the corridor are positioned to both benefit from and help shape how economic opportunities associated with the project take shape. Reconciliation is a commitment we are building into every stage of this project, shaping how economic participation is approached over the project lifecycle and aligned with Indigenous priorities and aspirations."
Danielle Belanger, Vice-President, Indigenous Relations, Alto
Together, NACCA and Alto are committed to ensuring that Canada's first high-speed rail project reflects the values of inclusion, partnership, and economic self-determination by engaging with Indigenous communities and through continued collaboration throughout every phase of the project.
ABOUT NACCA
NACCA is a national Indigenous organization with a network of more than 50 Indigenous Financial Institutions (IFIs) across Canada. For over 30 years, NACCA has played a crucial role in advancing economic growth and entrepreneurship among Indigenous communities. The NACCA network has provided more than 54,484 loans totaling over $3.56 billion to Indigenous-owned businesses, contributing more than
$7 billion in GDP impact and supporting the creation of 161,000 jobs. NACCA also administers the Indigenous Growth Fund and other capital programs to strengthen the Indigenous economy. Learn more at nacca.ca.
ABOUT ALTO
Alto is a Crown corporation dedicated to building the largest public infrastructure project in Canada's recent history – the country's first ever, reliable and frequent high-speed rail network. With stations in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Québec City, this project will connect millions of Canadians living along the country's most densely populated corridor. Alto will bring cities and people closer together and create significant socio-economic benefits that will help generations to come. For more information, please visit our website altotrain.ca.
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SOURCE National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association
MEDIA INQUIRIES: Joël Lamoureux, [email protected], 613-316-4089
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