FNIGC First Nations Data Governance Strategy — Canadian national strategy submitted to Indigenous Services Canada 2025 (AFN Resolution 30-2025)

Canada (national scope; regional implementation)

FNIGC First Nations Data Governance Strategy (FNDGS)

**Community-driven, Nation-based national strategy. Submitted by FNIGC and its regional partners to Indigenous Services Canada in 2025 (AFN Resolution 30-2025). **Plans regional information governance centres (one per region). **

What FNDGS is

FNDGS is the most authoritative Canadian operational framework for Indigenous data governance at scale. It is community-driven, Nation-based, and operational — distinct from OCAP® (the principles) and IEEE 2890 (the industry specification).

Key institutional detail: FNIGC submitted the FNDGS in partnership with regional First Nations organisations — one information governance centre per region is the planned operational model.

The institutional chain

• FNIGC (First Nations Information Governance Centre, Ottawa) — operational data-governance arm.
• Assembly of First Nations (AFN) — political arm; AFN Resolution 30-2025 directs ISC to “direct adequate resources to the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) to work with its regional partners.”
• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) — federal funder; FNDGS submitted to ISC.
• Regional First Nations organisations — operational implementation partners.

Why FNDGS matters for agrifood

FNDGS is the substantive Canadian framework for First Nations data governance at scale — and the framework Canadian federal science agencies (NRCAN, AAFC, DFO) are most directly aligned with. Not CARE, not IEEE 2890 — FNDGS.

For Canadian agrifood AI:

• AAFC and ISC are the federal agrifood data agencies.
• FNDGS is the First Nations data governance framework they are most directly aligned with.
• For AAFC to operationalise an Indigenous-led agrifood AI programme, FNDGS is the framework reference.

This is structurally important because:

• FNDGS is community-driven and Nation-based (not vendor-captured).
• FNDGS regional implementation (one centre per region) provides operational pathway for Indigenous-led agrifood AI deployment.
• FNDGS aligns with OCAP® principles (Canadian First Nations) and is consistent with CARE Principles (international Indigenous data governance).

Funding and operational model

• Federal funding through ISC.
• FNIGC operational coordination.
• Regional implementation through regional First Nations organisations.
• No AAFC-specific FNDGS implementation for agrifood — this is the framework-deployment gap.

Why FNDGS matters for talks

For archetype 05 (critical-lens Indigenous sovereignty): FNDGS is the operative Canadian framework. The talk-ready claim: “FNIGC’s First Nations Data Governance Strategy, submitted to ISC in 2025 (AFN Resolution 30-2025), is the most authoritative Canadian operational framework for Indigenous data governance at scale. Regional information governance centres (one per region) are the operational model. For AAFC to operationalise an Indigenous-led agrifood AI programme, FNDGS is the framework reference.”

For archetype 02 (data-sovereignty Canadian): FNDGS is the operational alternative to vendor-captured data governance. The talk-ready claim: “FNDGS regional information governance centres — community-driven, Nation-based — are the substantive Canadian operational alternative to vendor-captured farm data governance.”

Substantive contested claims surfaced

• C-297: “CARE Principles are the operative Canadian Indigenous data governance framework.” Counter: FNDGS (2025) is the operative Canadian framework; CARE is the international anchor.

Freshness and source provenance

• last-verified: 2026-07
• sources:
  • fnigc.ca/what-we-do/first-nations-data-governance-strategy/
  • afn.bynder.com/m/54212544751ab922/original/30-2025-First-Nations-Data-Governance-Strategy.pdf (AFN Resolution 30-2025)
  • afn.bynder.com/m/77817d94c88bdb2b/original/2025-SCA-Draft-On-time-Resolutions.pdf (AFN 2025 SCA Draft On-time Resolutions calling on ISC to direct resources to FNIGC)
  • journals.lww.com/ijar/fulltext/2025/10000/traditional_knowledge_databases_as_data.8.aspx (Sattigeri 2025 on OCAP history: “Developed as OCA in 1998 by the First Nations Information Governance Centre; the ‘P’ was affixed later”)