b'BUSINESS RECOVERYIndigenous consulting firm CIPS, located on the Curve Lake First Nation, struggled at the start of the pandemic but rallied with a new strategic online approach and recently hired new staffconnections are often substandard orthe long term. In fact, if the connectivityINDIGENOUS YOUTH:absent, and he believes the problemissue can be addressed there could be aA GROWING wont be easy to solve. When theboom in Indigenous entrepreneurship. DEMOGRAPHICpandemic happened everyone else was able to up their connectivity gameandAnthony Viel, managing partner andIndigenous peoples are the fastest-our First Nations havent, he notes. ItsCEO, Deloitte Canada, echoes that senti- growing population in Canada, going to be another gap creator, and Iment. Core to achieving thisand thissays Alexandra Biron, manager, think the federal government should beis coming out during the pandemicisDeloitte Indigenous, Deloitte accelerating its work on that. enabling digital access and connectivityCanada, and an Anishinaabe particularly to rural and more remoteOjibwe with family roots from Ottawa announced funding of $1.75areas in Canada. Equipping IndigenousGarden River First Nation, Sault billion to connect Canadians to high- youth with future-ready skills is anotherSte. Marie, Ontario.speed Internet last November. It alsoopportunity that comes out of the pauseBetween 2016 and 2026, 350,000 committed $600 million for high-speedand reflection that weve been able toIndigenous youth will be turning connectivity in the far north, rural, andhave because of the pandemic. 15, the age at which they can enter remote regions by means of satellitethe labour force, adds Biron. The capacity, but results will take time.Tristan Lee, Google Canadas small andchallenge is to educate, train and While better connectivity would helpmedium business marketing lead, saysemploy these youth in meaningful Indigenous businesses hang on untilhis company takes the need to improvejobs, especially in STEM fields.things return to normal, it will moreconnectivity seriously. Google Canada importantly enable them to participatehas taken its Grow with Google initiative fully and fairly in the national economy into Nunavut with the goal of developing CIPS used some of the downtime resulting from the COVID pandemic to adjust its strategic direction, revamp its website and update features to allow clients and partners to connect online42A CCAB PUBLICATION2021'