Achieving Success through Innovation – Building a Road, Building Benefits

When the East Side Road Authority (ESRA) was given the mandate from the Manitoba provincial government to construct an all-season road linking 13 First Nation communities, one of the key components of its mandate was to ensure that the construction of the road was carried out in a manner that provides benefits to the affected First Nation communities. Since 2009, ESRA has been working with each of the First Nation communities to create and increase benefits to the communities, through the use of Community Benefits Agreements. This paper will examine the unique Community Benefits Agreements created by ESRA for the East Side Road Project. The goal of the Community Benefits Agreements is to have First Nation-owned, COR certified construction companies in each of the 13 communities. ESRA works in partnership with each community to establish these companies and to develop and mentor the company employees in all facets of the company: construction, project management, safety and environmental management, asset management and financial management. ESRA negotiates untendered, multimillion dollar contracts with First Nation owned construction companies to provide preconstruction and construction services related to the all-season road project. With the experience gained from working with ESRA, companies are then in a position to bid competitively on the road construction contracts. By working in partnership with the First Nation communities, and with a mandate to provide and increase benefits, the ESRA Community Benefits Agreement model is achieving success on the multi-billion dollar East Side Road project.