Indigenous company playing key role in protecting biodiversity at OPG’s Darlington SMR site

“We ensure that our solutions are grounded in a sound conservation ethic and meet the needs of Indigenous peoples first and foremost,” said Corey Kinsella, a Project Lead at CIPS for physical sciences and traditional lands. “For the DNNP project, these lands have been inhabited by Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg since time immemorial and have always been very important to us. So, we looked at this restoration project from a historical lens and aim to restore these lands and their functions as they’ve always existed. We asked ourselves, how we could incorporate our ways of knowing, seeing, and the Seven Grandfather Teachings, and meshing that with Western science.”

For more than a year now, CIPS has been working with several partners at the DNNP site, including E.S. Fox, to restore the grounds around OPG’s future SMR Units 1 to 3. For the next 10 years, the company will be responsible for maintaining and monitoring these lands to ensure species at risk are protected and benefiting.

Through a Two-Eyed Seeing mindset, which integrates both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems, CIPS has worked to excavate grounds at the DNNP site and plant trees and shrubs, including species significant to First Nations such as sugar maple and butternut trees. The project has also involved repopulating the land with different native seeds and creating habitats for several threatened species, including birds such as barn swallows and bats such as the little brown myotis, northern myotis, and tricoloured bat.

“We are looking to restore these habitats so these species can create homes and have food sources to sustain their normal life functions in this area,” said Kinsella. “It’s our goal that in 10 years we can have a nice flourishing space for all of the birds, bats, and bees.”

Across its operations, OPG continues to focus on growing economic benefits for Indigenous companies like CIPS. Through OPG’s Reconciliation Action Plan, launched in 2021, the company aims to positively grow its economic impact on Indigenous communities, businesses, and organizations by $1 billion by 2031.

One of the ways OPG will achieve this goal is by increasing procurement from Indigenous businesses like CIPS.

“At the time we signed the contract with OPG, it was our biggest to date,” said Kinsella. “We’ve really appreciated this opportunity to be involved in this project. It has been very beneficial for increasing capacity for our company."