Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB). Twenty-five years later, PAIR continues to offer a case study in how Indigenous business relations can be structured, measured, and made to last. THE START Lee Ahenakew was at CCIB before there even was a PAIR program. In 1997, with a business degree in hand, he moved to Toronto and walked into the orga- nization’s Toronto office to ask if he could volunteer. At the time, the group operated out of a converted coach house behind a large stone building and had a staff of just four. Within two weeks, the Ontario chapter’s executive director had left, and Ahenakew, weeks removed from convocation, was asked to fill the role on an interim basis. “When I started, Indigenous relations was barely a thing,” he says today. The organization was facing significant structural challenges, says Akenekew. For nearly a decade, a federally funded internship program had defined its core identity, but when that program concluded, CCAB was forced to pivot. He says the organization had become reliant on government grants rather than building self-sustaining revenue. With limited independent income and reserves running low, a new business INDIGENOUS BUSINESS REPORT is published for Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB) 2 Berkeley Street, Suite 202 Toronto, ON M5A 4J5 416-961-8663 www.ccib.ca VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING, COMMUNICATION & EVENTS Shannon Sutherland DIRECTOR, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Chris Overton Published by: mediaedgepublishing.com 33 South Station Street Toronto, ON M9N 2B2 Toll Free: 866-480-4717 robertt@mediaedge.ca NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLISHING Maurice P. LaBorde EDITOR Roma Ihnatowycz NATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVES Pat Johnston, Derek de Weerdt, David Tetlock, Ashley Huston, Bill Biber SENIOR DESIGN SPECIALIST Krista Zimmermann DESIGN SPECIALIST Bethany Giesbrecht PRESIDENT Kevin Brown SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Robert Thompson SALES / BRANCH MANAGER Nancie Privé Published October 2026 Publication Mail Agreement #40787580 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of the association. The Indigenous Business Report is printed on 10% post-consumer FSC certified paper using soya based inks. When necessary to mail an issue in an enclosure, we use an environmentally-friendly, 100% oxo-degradable poly-wrap. A digital copy is available at www.ccib.ca Return undeliverables to: Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB) 2 Berkeley Street, Suite 202 Toronto, ON M5A 4J5 Indigenous BUSINESS REPORT 11 PAIR 25TH ANNIVERSARY GLOBE AND MAIL / TMX GROUP CHART CUMULATIVE RETURN OF PAIR-CERTIFIED COMPANIES VS. BROADER MARKET Cumulative return of PAIR-certified companies vs. broader market. Percentage change since December 2000 through 2024. The VettaFi Canadian Council for Indigenous Business PAIR Index, which tracks PAIR-certified companies, is shown against the VettaFi Canada Large/Mid Cap Index. Over five years, PAIR-certified companies outperformed the broader index by 80 basis points on an annualized basis.
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